


Pieces Of People

by MANG0



Category: The Originals (TV), The Originals (TV) RPF, The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV), The Vampire Diaries - L. J. Smith, Vampire Diaries RPF
Genre: F/M, Vampire Diaries - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-01 02:55:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 37,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15765156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MANG0/pseuds/MANG0
Summary: Vampire y/n returns to Mystic Falls after finding out her friend Stefan Salvatore has gone off the rails with blood, what she doesn’t expect to happen is find out her deep rooted connections with the Mikaelson family, in particular – Elijah.SET IN SEASON 3 OF VAMPIRE DIARIES





	1. Chapter One

The air of Mystic Falls would always feel a little heavier and a little thicker than anywhere else. All other times that y/n had stayed here she had found herself muddled in some kind of supernatural drama usually started by her good friends the Salvatore brothers. Although, it seems they had already found a problem for themselves before she had even arrived.

The young woman strode boldly down the barren streets, the sky but a navy pulse above her, her blood-red heels clicking as she walked, her legs flicking in and out of her tight woollen coat.

Burying her chin and lips into her tall collar she allowed her mind to wander back to the Salvatore brothers. From rumours she’d heard, Stefan had gone off the rails again and they both were once more fighting over a girl – Elena Gilbert. She knew people closely in Mystic Falls, people who never left, and from them, she had heard whisperings of Klaus Mikealson, hybrids and of course, The Originals.

That was, in fact, the reason why she was here, the reason why she was walking up the stone steps to the Salvatore home. Y/n had questions, and simply not enough answers to keep her satisfied.

But maybe, just maybe there was more to it than that. Maybe after all these years she simply couldn’t sit by and listen to rumours of her friend ruining his own life, maybe she heard of the doppelganger and the worth of her blood and cared a little too much about strangers to see them turn into a blood bank, maybe she just needed to check in on her blue-eyed friend with self-destructive tendencies. So many reasons, such little time.

She lifted a hand to push on the familiar tall wooden door, but before she could even touch it she could already feel the resistance of something a little bit more than ordinary. There was a block on the door, she wouldn’t be able to get in until invited.

“That’s new,” She murmured softly before knocking clear and loud on the polished wood. Using her heightened hearing she concentrated until she heard whisperings from inside.

“Who the hell could that be?” y/n heard the familiar snarky comment of Damen ring distantly around her ears, she couldn’t help it, she began to smile.

“Don’t look at me,” She heard the half-hearted sigh of a voice far too familiar, Katherine? Then the door swung back, and warm light pooled into y/n’s vision slightly blurring the familiar face of the friend in front of her.

“Hello Damon,” She spoke softly, her head slightly cocked, “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

* * *

It was only a few minutes later and y/n was standing in front of the snapping fire in the main room of the Salvatore mansion, slowly unbuttoning her jacket as the warmth of the fire spread across her skin.

“So, y/n, what brings you back into town?” Damen snarked, half-glaring as his nose disappeared into his whiskey glass.

“Why are you being pissy Damen?” y/n glared at the flickering embers before turning to the raven-haired man, “We were on good terms when I left.”

“I’ll take that from you,” A small voice spoke up, turning y/n smiled at the inquisitive Elena who was holding her hands out for her jacket.

“Thank you, Elena,” y/n smiled at the girl as she handed over the folds of dark fabirc; she was after all the one that let y/n in, y/n then sipped from her own whiskey glass and eyed Damen with a raised eyebrow.

“You still left y/n,” He said suddenly, his voice overly serious, “Nothing can change that,” y/n didn’t move, she didn't speak for a full minute.

“I’m sorry Damen, I really am. But, you should know by now what it means to be a Vampire, you can’t stay anywhere for too long…and…I used up all my time here,” It was a poor apology, but it’s hard to apologise for something that’s not your fault. Damen didn’t respond, his eyes fixed on his glass. “I heard about Stefan.” y/n eventually said, moving onto what she really wanted to talk about.

“Ah,” Damen rolled his eyes, “So you wanted to show up like the guardian angel you are and help him become ‘normal’ again...sounds like you,” A pause of silence, Elena had walked back into the room however remained stood behind the ruby couch, her eyes touched with curiosity.

“Don’t talk to me like that Damen,” y/n murmured quietly, her eyes fixed on the glowing rim of her glass.

“Like what?” Damen spat.

“Like I’m not supposed to care,”

“You’re not,” Damen chirped sarcastically standing up, a forced smile on his lips, “That’s the price people pay when they walk out on their friends,”

“I didn’t walk out on you,” y/n muttered, hating how quiet her voice sounded compared to his.

“Then _why_ did you leave?” Damen shouted.

“Because I had too!” y/n yelled back, “Because Damen, I know it’s hard to believe but there are elements of my life that even _you_ don’t know about, things I did and do still need to figure out!” A heavy silence settled on the room and Elena glanced between her friend and the mysterious young woman who was now trying to regain some composure.

“I am…sorry for leaving.” y/n said after a beat and Damen looked up into her eyes, “I really am.”

“Come on,” Damen murmured after a minute of heavy silence gesturing to the couch opposite his, “There’s _a lot_ you need to catch up on.”


	2. Chapter Two

“Wow, so you’ve really got up to a lot,” y/n mumbled, her lips dipping into her fourth glass of golden liquid.

“You could say that,” Damon muttered, now standing and staring into the fireplace where only delicate embers remained, dim but still alive.

“So right now, you have this…”

“Coffin,”

“Yes, this coffin, and you don’t know what is in it but you think whatever _is_ in it will help you kill this Klaus guy,”

“Something like that,” Damon flicked his eyebrows up at her before sitting himself on the coffee table, face illuminated.

“You know what I’m going to say right,” y/n’s legs were tucked up underneath her and there was a satin cushion pulled into her lap.

“Yes,”

“So, will you let me...help that is,” Her head rested against her hand lazily and her eyes were fluttering closed with every glass.

“Well, even if I said no, which I’m not going to by the way,” Damon began, “You’d try and get involved one way or the other,” Y/n gave him a look that was somewhere between ‘you’re right’ and ‘sorry’, “Besides, you could actually be useful.” Damon’s face somehow managed to be both mischievous and kind. Y/n hummed in response happily before standing and placing her now empty glass onto the nearest coaster.

“Okay, I’m going to bed because I’m officially exhausted and in the morning…we’ll discuss battle plans,”

“Why are you so exhausted?”

“Well, as soon as I heard about just _some_ of the drama going on around here I basically journeyed over here none stop,”

“Where did you come from?”

“Don’t worry about that Damon,” Y/n distantly smiled, “Just… _my_ problems,”

“Same problems that made you leave the first time?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe,” Y/n spoke softly, a glint of something cryptic in her eyes, “Now, is it okay if I stay here or should I go find a hotel or something?”

“Oh, don’t be stupid y/n, you know you can stay here,” Damon smiled placing his own glass down before leading y/n over to the warm wooden staircase. “You know,” Damon called over his shoulder, “You could always stay in _my_ room,”

“Well that depends, do you still have those silk sheets?”

“Of course,” Damon murmured leading her down a hallway towards a dark door.

“Ahh, unfortunately, I don’t like slipping right out of bed whilst I sleep,” Damon spun round in a blink to face her, his eyes inquisitive as he glanced over her face, from the edges of her brows to the shadow under her jaw.

“Are you sure?” The playfulness in his voice had disappeared.

“Yes Damon,” Y/n whispered after a moment, her hand resting on the cool metal of the door handle, “I’m sure.”

Pushing onto the door, y/n walked into a familiar room, the room she had stayed in when she was last here in the 50s. And nothing had changed. Walking in, y/n’s mind swam with memories of thick A-line skirts and red lipstick, large curlers and reckless behaviour.

“You know,” She said suddenly turning back to where Damon was leaning against the door frame. “Why is it that whenever we meet you're always in love with another woman,” Damon’s eyebrows instantly furrowed when he heard this.

“What?”

“Oh come on, first it was Katherine and now it’s Elena,” Y/n moved over to the bed and rubbed the soft cotton material between her fingers, Damon didn’t respond. “Don’t fret about it though, I think she likes you too.”

“So, you’re not mad?” Damon questioned, moving a little further into the room. Y/n’s head snapped over to him.

“Damon. I _literally_ have no reason to be mad.” y/n distantly smiled, “You will always be first and foremost my friend. No matter what…slip-ups we had in the past. If she’s someone that could make you happy, then I’m happy.” There was a pause between the two, both of them staring at each other with a wistfully happy look.

"I really think she is."

* * *

It was the next day and the sun was gently tumbling through the half-closed burgundy curtains of y/n's new and temporary room. But then again, everything becomes temporary after so many years of living. Last night had been a successful reunion with Damon, however, the butterflies in y/n's gut left her still with an uneasy feeling. She had still to meet Stefan.

Groaning, she rolled out of her bed, her heart swelling once more at the sight of the room, a room that seemed to have quite literally been waiting for her to return. The dresser still had some old sketches she had done way back, the vintage mirror had a small crack in the top left from when she had carried it into the room and held on a little too tightly and of course there was a small board next to the door full of pictures from the 1950s, all black and white.

Some were of Mystic Falls, pictures of the river and the flower garden outside the church. Other were of y/n herself, taken by her passing friends or the Salvatore brothers, some of them even had the Salvatore brothers in them. One, in particular, stood out. It was of y/n squashed in between Damon and Stefan, all three of them grinning to contain their laughter from a long-forgotten joke.

Back then y/n wasn't too stressed out about the secret that had haunted her for nearly 900 years. But after a rather deep and dark night with a rather strange nightmare, y/n couldn't ignore the fact anymore. She had left almost immediately the next day, setting off on a journey back to her hometown of y/h/t.

Sighing heavily, y/n gently opened the door and shut it behind her before padding over the rich russet floor to the staircase, her socks slipping every so often on the smooth wood. Making her way into the never used kitchen she flicked through barren cupboards only finding half-empty bottles of liquor.

"God, they really do have a drinking problem," She muttered under her breath right before she found what she was looking for, coffee. "Oh, hell yeah," She sighed, reaching out and wrapping her fingers around the box.

"Looking for something?" The voice behind her came almost out of nowhere, with a small yelp y/n swung around to confront who was behind her throwing the box of coffee in the process, the figure lifted his hand in a split second and caught the box. Y/n immediately went into attack mode before she saw who it was.

"Stefan," She sighed heavily, "You scared me,"

"I could say the same thing," He replied calmly, moving over to the coffee machine and filling it up, y/n remained silent. "What you doing here y/n?" Stefan's voice was cold.

"Oh, you know, I was passing through town, thought I'd drop by to see my best buddies Stefan and Damon Salvatore," Y/n murmured back as she pulled herself up onto the kitchen's island. Stefan simply stayed silent as a response.

"Honestly y/n, why are you here?" Stefan finished with the coffee and turned to face her. Y/n looked him up and down, he really had changed. There was something taught and restrained about him, it seemed like every muscle was standing on end, his smile was pushed and sad and his eyes were drained of any emotion.

"Honestly…I heard about you," Y/n said softly, "I heard you'd gone off the rails with blood and...I wanted to help," Stefan didn't respond, he simply turned back to the coffee machine grabbed the mug placed it next to her and went to leave. "Stefan wait," Y/n followed him into the hallway, the coffee left behind.

"Why? Because I need to hear about how you want to fix me, how everyone I care about, even you, is looking at me with either pity or anger? Well, guess what y/n, you can pack up and go back to wherever you ran off to the first time because I’m back on animal blood." Stefan swung back around and began striding away.

"Stefan!" Y/n gasped, "Why the hell are you being so rude?" She strode right after him.

"Oh, don't act like that y/n," Stefan's voice echoed throughout the hallway. Then, Stefan abruptly stopped just at the top of the main living room, y/n was just about to retaliate when she saw why Stefan had stopped. Standing in the living room was Damon, Elena, a pale girl with blonde hair, a dark girl with brown hair and a tall man with a shadow-like stubble.

"Ah," Damon hummed, "Now everyone's here, we can start the meeting."

* * *

“So, to recap,” Damon called out in his commander voice, “Me and Stefan will go to dinner with Klaus and Elijah to buy you time to open up the mystery coffin.” Damon briefly looked at the girl Bonnie, “Rick, you Caroline and Elena should look into the sexy psychotic doctor, I want to know what her deal is.”

“I’m on it.” The sweet man with messy hair responded but not before giving Damon icy eyes.

“I have one question,” Caroline piped up, her sweeter than sugar voice echoing throughout the room, “Who’s she?” She gestured vaguely to where y/n was standing behind the sofa.

“She,” Damon met y/n’s gaze, “Is unimportant,” y/n raised an eyebrow and Damon sighed heavily, “For now…I’m sure she’ll somehow come into play later.”

“She...is also a vampire who is here to help,” y/n turned back to Caroline, “Not harm.”

“But how do you know Stefan and Damon?” Caroline pushed further.

“I’m just an old friend. I knew them before they were vampires and I stayed with them for a little bit in the 50s.” Y/n shrugged.

“Woah,” Caroline murmured, “I feel sorry for you.”

* * *

“So, you okay staying here looking after the house for tonight,” Damon was pulling on a black suit jacket getting ready to leave.

“Of course, but the more important question, are you okay with this?” Y/n questioned, wearing an old pair of pyjama shorts and an oversized cropped hoodie with thick, woollen socks.

“Yeah, don’t worry about me,” Damon grinned in his lovingly cocky way, “I’m in good with this Elijah guy, we’ll be just fine.”

“Elijah…” Y/n rolled the name off the tongue, “That name is so familiar to me. Is he someone I would know?”

“I’d hope not, he’s an original, granted he’s the nicest of the bunch, but…still.” Damon pondered. Just then Stefan walked into the room, buttoning up the cuffs of his fitted black suit.

“You ready?”

“Woah, so you guys are really digging the black suits right now.” This only earned a playful eye roll from both brothers.

“Okay, we’re off, see you later,” Damon said, jumping up the small set of stairs and heading for the door.

“Be safe, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Y/n called after them. After watching the door close behind the Salvatore brothers, she found herself flopping onto the couch.

“Hmm,” She sighed looking around, “What to do? What to do?”

But even when she had woken up this morning she had already known what she would spend her evening doing. Running up to her room she grabbed a small notebook from within the folds of her pillows and a pen from her dresser before settling back down onto the sofa.

Opening it up to the first page, y/n began to read. She was reading the journal she has kept for the past 5 decades, documenting every discovery and every new lead she had ever had, all to do with the secret that confronted her in a nightmare not so long ago.

See, y/n was born in 1111, which would make her supposedly 900 years old. She spent around 19 years of her life being human, but she only knows this from judging her body. But the secret is that she doesn’t know how she became like this, how she became a vampire. She has no idea who turned her, or even if she had a choice in the matter. All she knows is, is that she woke up in 1180 in northern England as a vampire. That’s 50 odd years of her life and her infancy as a vampire that she doesn’t remember, that in her mind, it’s just a period of a blank black canvas.

It was only after a nightmare in the 50s that finally forced y/n to seek out those 50 years she doesn’t remember. So she travelled to the town she was born in, and from there went to northern England. Documenting the entire experience in this journal, and not stopping until she had heard word of her friend’s Stefan and Damon’s trouble.

And tonight, it was about time that she sat down and read through the entire thing, to try and make sense of the messy scribbles, and emotional rants. As the evening passed y/n took in page after page of her own writing, reliving every moment she had spent tracking down those lost years.

As she read she underlined questions that still didn’t have an answer to like _did someone or something take these memories from me?_ And if so _why and who?_ And _who turned me into a vampire?_ And _how did I end up in Northern England?_

She read, and she read and she read until one of the few remaining clean pages presented itself to her. Picking up the pen she took her time and wrote out a word.

_Elijah_

The word was so familiar, but how could it be when she knew for a fact that there were no Elijah’s in her life, there have never been. So, she wrote it out again, the same curl of the ‘e’ and swoop of the ‘j’ slowly began to burn into her eyes, haunting her soul. Moving on she wrote out another two words, unsure if she would feel anything similar.

_The Originals._

As soon as she wrote it she found herself drawing a neat oval around the words. It was at this moment that a chill began to run the length of her spine causing her to slam the journal shut creating a noise like a snapping bone. Glaring into the fire, y/n got up and poured herself a drink and, at that moment, she just knew.

She knew she was onto something.


	3. Chapter Three

Y/n had eventually decided to sleep on what she had discovered that night, ready to finally come clean with what she was thinking to Damon and Stefan the next day. That brings us to here, with y/n sitting in front of both brothers, standing with their arms folded like stone across their steel chests.

“So, what exactly are you _trying_ to say?” Damon raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know, or, I don’t remember how I became a vampire or what happened for the first 50 years of _being_ a vampire. But I think it just might have something to do with that original family.” Y/n shrugged, she always knew that one day they would find out about her secret, she just never thought it would be so soon.

“But how do you know it’s something to do with them?” Stefan asked.

“When Damon said the name ‘Elijah’ last night…it was so familiar.” Y/n looked right into his eyes, “ _So_ familiar Stefan. But I don’t know any Elijah’s, at least from the life I remember I don’t.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Damon murmured sitting down next to her, Stefan remained standing, “Look,” Damon had once more flipped a switch and found himself being deadly serious, “We’ll help you, of course we’ll help you. But right now, our main priority is getting Klaus out of the picture…not in it.”

“Of course, Damon,” Y/n reached out a hand and gripped onto his wrist, “I would never let you put my problem before this Klaus one anyways.”

“Okay, well why don’t you come to this ball thing the family is doing tonight.”

“Ball thing?”

“Yeah, Elena got an invite from mother original to go to some kind of housewarming ball, all the originals will be there, and it’ll give you a chance to meet them and figure out this…issue.”

“I’m guessing both of you will be going as well,” Y/n hummed.

“Well, it’s either that or let Elena go by herself to a house full of the evil vampires…you can see which option we’re most likely take.” Damon’s usual snark provoked a lazy smile to pull across y/n’s lips.

“Okay great!” Y/n suddenly chirped jumping up and heading for the door.

“Hey, where are you going?” Damon called after her just as she swung the front of the door open.

“I’m going to go hang out with Elena, she seems cool and I don’t want her to think I’m just a creepy vampire that came out of nowhere.”

“Okay, be safe.”

“Always am.”

* * *

Y/n arrived at the Gilbert’s home quicker than she expected, I guess that’s what happens when you stay indoors for a little too long. Knocking on the door sharply she once more buried her chin in her coat not expecting the door to swing open so quickly revealing a carbon copy of Katherine Pierce.

She had met Elena before, but it was still a strange moment and y/n felt as though she had been knocked right back in time. She had known Katherine for almost all her life, she found her when she was an infant Vampire running from someone, someone who made her so afraid, Katherine couldn’t even say their name.

“Y/n…right?” Elena’s voice snapped her right back to reality.

“Yeah, um,” Oh God, it was already awkward, “Listen, Damon and Stefan told me about this ball…thing…and I was just coming over here to take you to get a dress and hopefully we could get to know each other a bit better.” Thankfully a faint smile pulled at Elena’s lips.

“Sure, I’d love that, I’ll just go grab a jacket.”

* * *

“What’s this place again?” Elena asked, a chuckle in her voice.

“It’s the perfect store for a ball gown, I’m pretty sure all of mine have come from here, even right back when this shop first opened with the founding families.”

“Woah,” Y/n heard Elena murmur. They were currently standing in a small boutique in the centre of town where their conversation could only be heard by the sweet old lady behind the desk, but y/n would simply compel her to forget any supernatural conversations before they left.

“Okay!” Elena chirped up, “I think I have enough to try on for now,”

“Me too,” Y/n chirped back, “Let’s do this.”

Elena picked out her gown almost too quickly, a bronzy gold, sleeveless, sparkly thing and a pale cream pair of gloves, unfortunately, y/n hadn’t had as much luck.

“What about this one?” She pondered pulling the curtain back to reveal the blush floral one that had been her first choice.

“Hmm, too pink,” Elena said after a moment.

“Ugh I know,” Y/n sighed peering into a mirror, “God, when did it become so hard to pick out a dress.” Y/n knew exactly why this time was harder than others because for the first time in a long time she actually felt as though she might be on to something. Something big.

“Oh I know, Caroline regularly has me shop for gowns for all of the school’s dances, it was always so fun the first handful of times but after so long you just want to get a dress to have it be over…can’t imagine what it’s like to live 900 years and still have to do this.” Elena had curled up on the viewing couch, disappearing through the rails every so often to try and help. “What gowns do you have left?”

“Well, I have a wide selection from the yellow floaty one to the black sparkly one.”

“It’s like two opposite ends of a personality scale.” Y/n let out a small chuckle at this, “Wait I think we know how to decide,”

“Go on,” Y/n asked as Elena came into the dressing room and placed the two dresses side by side.

“Well,, what’s your goal?”

“My goal?”

“Yeah, like are you wanting to make the impression that you’re cute and sweet and approachable…or dark, mysterious and sexy?” Elena asked.

“Ah,” Y/n hummed looking between the dresses, “Well, I think I’ve found my dress.”

A few minutes later, Elena and y/n spilt out of the small shop with arms full of shopping and broad smiles stretched across their cheeks.

“I’ll see you tonight okay,” Y/n said as she left Elena on her doorstep, “Until then…don't do anything stupid.” She had heard of Elena’s deeds in the past, it seemed as though that girl had a death wish.

* * *

Later that night, y/n was standing in front of the mirror. God, how long had it been since she’d had a reason to get all dressed up. The black dress fits almost too well. It had thin straps which flowed down into a perfect v-line, revealing just a glimpse of the plump flesh of her chest. It then remained tight further down, pulling in around her waist and then flowing straight down to the floor leaving a small pool of black sparkling liquid behind her.

Helping her get into the mood of the dress she had pulled on a black plain garter onto her right thigh, keeping her favourite knife safe, the cool metal was a constant reminder on her skin that tonight had every chance not to be a normal night. A very small and delicate diamond necklace sat neatly at the bottom of her neck and there was a very small delicate silver hoop in each ear. Lips were painted red and heels with thin and elegant with a small almost invisible strap pulled across her ankle, on her ankle also sat a band of golden leaves, pulled together around a ruby which rested on her ankle bone. Her reason for being able to walk in the sun.

She was ready.

Sighing heavily, she tucked her phone into her garter as well before making her way downstairs, she was going to need a drink if she was to somehow get through tonight.

“There she is,” Damon called out as she walked into the room, the fire already lit and burning bright.

“Here I am,” She responded immediately grabbing a glass and filling it with golden liquid, noticing that Damon had one of his own, “I hope you weren’t waiting up for me,”

“No of course not,” Damon muttered, “Party doesn’t start for another hour and you know me…I’m a fashionably late kind of guy.”

“Ah,” She hummed dipping her nose into the liquid, she only meant to have a sip but before she knew it she was pouring the contents straight down her throat.

“Woah, woah!” Damon jumped up, “Respect the alcohol young missy, this stuff ain’t cheap and if you’re just drinking it to get drunk then there’s some old vodka in the kitchen that Stefan must have bought,” Damon said causing y/n to raise an eyebrow and fold her arms, “Fine, it’s mine, but still-”

“Sorry Damon, I didn’t mean to drink all of it and I will, from now on…respect the alcohol,” she said, taking her glass back out of his clutches and pouring herself some more.

“What’s got you so in the mood for a bit of booze,” Damon questioned sinking into the couch.

“Just nerves are all,”

“You, y/n l/n, nervous?” Damon raised a brow, “Who’d have thought?” Damon looked her over once, picking up on her slightly shaky hands and the tapping of her foot, maybe this was more serious then he realised, “No, but seriously, why are you nervous?”

“Because…” Y/n choked out, her voice a little higher than usual, “I spent a long time travelling most of Europe and America for the better part of half a century, following dead leads into dead ends and now…just when I’m not supposed to be looking, something so clear and so…right, has presented itself to me,” She shrugged, keeping her eyes on her glass, “And, I guess I don’t know how to feel about that.”

“And,” She continued after a few moments of silence, “If I am somehow linked to the originals…they don’t seem like the nicest bunch from what I’ve heard,”

“You could say that again,” Damon whispered under his breath. “But look,” He piped up, “Even if you… _are_ linked to them…somehow, that would be from a time 800 plus years ago. And you’re obviously not going to be the same person that was around back then, you would have changed…grown and gotten stronger. If you find out that you the secret love child of Klaus, or something equally horrific, you don’t need to let that change you now. You’re talking about something that happened so far in the past, it wouldn’t be fair to let it change you.”

“Damon,” Y/n cocked her head and smiled, “Are you going to make me cry right now?”

“I hope not, I don’t think we have enough time for you to re-do your makeup,” Damon said but the smile he gave her after that was full of warmth and support.

“Hey,” Y/n murmured, “You know you can come and talk to me if you ever need someone to just…talk with. I mean, it can’t be easy going through the whole Katherine - Stefan love thing again.” Damon opened his mouth to protest but y/n cut in quickly, “Elena might have mentioned something earlier when we were dress shopping…oh and that reminds me, you’re going to lose your shit when you see her. I mean she literally looks like a Greek goddess.” Damon smiled to himself quickly before jumping up and heading for the door.

“Okay, enough of this emotional crap,” He swung around quickly and gave her a mischievous grin, “We’ve got a party to crash.”


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vampire y/n returns to Mystic Falls after finding out her friend Stefan Salvatore has gone off the rails with blood, what she doesn’t expect to happen is find out her deep rooted connections with the Mikaelson family, in particular – Elijah.

The house just bled arrogance. From the security guards at the electric fence to the 5-minute drive through thick shrubbery only to open up to a house with a car park big enough for the main town mall. Everything was marble steps, broad balconies and doors so tall they would need at least four people to open them up every day.

“Wow…I already hate this place,” Damon said loudly as he got out of the car, turning up his nose at the sight of people excitedly rushing up the pale steps.

“You can say that again,” Y/n shivered following his gaze, the thin translucent, black scarf currently intertwined loosely with her elbows not protecting her very well against the evening’s chill.

“Okay,” Damon muttered sarcastically, “Wow I already hate this place.” Y/n sighed heavily, tonight was going to be a _long_ night.

“Is it just me or did the temperature drop at least by 20?” Y/n loosely curled her arm through Damon’s own presented arm as she picked up her skirt and tried to make her way up the stairs.

“Now, I think…I _think_ that might have to do with the family that is hosting this lovely party being a bunch of vampires.”

“Shh Damon!” Y/n squeaked slightly hysterical, the nerves had returned with a vengeance. “People might hear you,”

“So, they’ll hear me, hey are you okay? You’re taking like half an hour to climb five steps,” Damon peered down at where y/n was having a slight battle with her silky gown.

“Yeah, yeah,” Y/n sighed, “Just… don't really want to do this anymore,”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Damon said turning her to face him, “You can’t back out now…you owe it to yourself not to back out now.” Y/n nodded, thankful for the support but somehow, she still couldn’t breathe through the butterflies in her throat. “Hey? Is it the dress?” Damon cupped her cheeks in his hands, “Is it not the colour you wanted?”

“Damon,” Y/n half-giggled pushing his hands away.

“Because, believe me, if there was ever a dress to wear whilst confronting the family that could have possibly caused you an eternity of pain and suffering by supernatural means…that’s the dress,” Y/n nodded, now feeling the butterflies begin to dissolve away, she could do this.

“Okay, let’s go in,” She smiled about to walk in.

“Wait…that worked?” Damon raised an eyebrow, “A comment about your deep and emotional confrontation didn’t but a vague compliment on your dress did?”

“Seems so,” Y/n grinned, “And…I wouldn’t call that a vague compliment,”

“Hmm, agree to disagree.” Y/n smiled broadly at him before curling her arm through his once more.

“Come on Damon, let’s go get drunk off some of the most expensive champagne that’ll ever exist,”

“Finally! Someone with a flawless plan!”

* * *

“You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were ignoring me,” Klaus Mikaelson pondered as he approached his brother who was currently leaning against the bar.

“Oh, really?” Elijah responded, his drink his main focus, “Because I thought that even you Niklaus knew better and could understand that I am, in fact, ignoring you.”

“Now why would you do that?” Klaus responded, his voice dripping with the usual cockiness.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Elijah murmured, “Maybe I’m finally addressing all the times in the past when you screwed me over.”

“Oh Elijah,” Klaus smiled widely, leaning his back against the cool wood of the bar, “You’re supposed to be the moral one…remember? Leave reckless hatred to those who feel a little bit more than guilt and pain.”

Elijah decided not to respond, sometimes you have to treat Niklaus like a toddler, he needs to understand that the attention can’t always circle him. But maybe Elijah didn’t respond for another reason, that reason being that Klaus was and always right about him.

“You know, I think it’s about time you put your personal issues with me behind don’t you brother dearest?” Klaus smiled into his glass, his arms almost melting into the wood of the bar as his eyes focused on something at the front of the crowd.

“And… _why_ would I do that Niklaus?” Elijah hummed playfully into his own glass.

“Because brother,” Klaus turned and glared good-humouredly into Elijah’s eyes, “Your worst nightmare…just walked into the party.”

With furrowed eyebrows, Elijah swung around from the bar and searched for what Niklaus could possibly be talking about, but he didn’t need to search for long.

He would never need to search for long when it involved her.

* * *

Walking in, y/n slowly began to feel the dread inside her like a stormy sea somehow settle into a motionless lake. All around her stood people dressed in similar elegance and grace, all of them chatting, drinking and mingling with some of the most respected people of Mystic Falls. Peering around for any familiar faces, y/n instantly spotted Stefan, keeping to himself in the corner of the room.

"Hey, I'm going to go talk to Stefan," Y/n leant over and whispered into Damon's ear, giving his arm a quick squeeze before making her way through the busybodies. Stefan who had already spotted her was welcoming her over with a warming smile. But just as she was about to smile back she collided her right shoulder with a passer-by.

"Oh, sorry love," She heard a voice whisper low as she quickly regained her balance.

"Oh no, don't worry about-" y/n swung around with a broad smile but as soon as she met his eyes she felt her muscles snap into ice. He was around a head taller than her, with dirty blonde hair that melted down from his temples to his jaw, bleeding effortlessly into a beard. Y/n's gut twisted ungodly fast into a knot and her toes began to curl in her heels, she could almost feel the hair of the beard prickling against her fingertips as she held onto him tightly. It felt so real she didn't know if she was just imagining the feeling.

His eyes were a tainted brown but as the light hit it at certain angles she could have sworn they were blue. An image was spat into her mind, an image of what those eyes would look like as the moonlight pierced them from a place of white sheets and frothy pillows at midnight. He was a stranger, but he felt more like a lover.

"Are you okay?" Even his voice felt like a forgotten memory.

"Yeah," She mumbled, feeling her knees suddenly weaken underneath her.

"Good," He smiled, something knowing in his eyes, "I'm glad."

And then he was gone, disappearing back into the bodies of black silk and golden jewellery. Y/n stood there for a moment frazzled and confused. What the hell just happened? With furrowed brows, y/n turned back around slowly catching sight of Stefan once more and making her way over.

When she looked down she could see her legs moving but her mind felt so far away, it felt as though someone had pulled a screen up in front of her vision and what she was seeing wasn't actually real.

"Are you okay?" Stefan's words cut through the noise of the party like glass, repeating the same words the stranger had asked only a few seconds, but what could have been years, ago.

"Yeah," She mumbled back, taking a glass of champagne of a passing tray, the bubbly liquid splashing against her nose as she took a sip due to her shaky hands.

"Looks like you just met Klaus," Stefan said, his eyes focused on the crowd at where Klaus was standing with the mayor.

"Wait..." The knot in y/n's gut pulled tighter, " _That's_ Klaus?"

"Yeah," Stefan replied, "So do you feel like you're finally onto something?" Y/n's eyes flicked from Stefan to the crowd where it felt like she could look nowhere but Klaus Mikaelson. Just as her eyes fell on him he smiled faintly and flicked his eyes up from the mayor to stare right back, he was nodding along to something Mrs Lockwood was saying but clearly, not listening.

"Yes, I do...but whatever it is. I don't like it."

* * *

 

Since the moment she had walked through the door, it was safe to say that Elijah had passed through the five stages of grief. Denial – he had spent a solid hour flicking from the main staircase to the library, bringing up books on doppelgangers, witch spells to bring back the dead and even working out the actual probability that the woman who walked through the doors was _not_ her.

Anger – after he had somehow settled on what he knew all along, that it was, in fact, her, he had felt anger as though it had come straight from the pits of hell. He stayed in his assigned room, not even able to think of what could have happened to put her in this situation. And not to mention the anger he felt at himself, anger for things he thought he had forgiven himself for long ago.

Bargaining – After he had composed himself, Elijah emerged from his room and almost walked directly into the man who she had walked in with. Damon Salvatore.

“Hello Damon,” Elijah’s voice came out smooth and calm, no one, not even his own mother could be able to tell that there was something up with him if he didn’t want her to.

“Hello Elijah,” Damon stared at him slightly incredulously.

“Come,” Elijah continued, “Walk with me.”

“Sorry, Elijah…old buddy” Damon began a touch of sarcasm laced within his voice, “But I have a situation just a little more important than late night strolls,”

“Is something wrong?” Elijah pondered, leaning out on the balcony that overlooked the party below, his mind instantly snapping to her face.

“No…” Damon murmured, “Why?” Elijah could see her out of the corner of his eye, her black dress catching the light in a way that he had already memorised.

“Good,” Elijah moved slightly closer to Damon, “Because if there was…I’d hope we were close enough now that you’d be able to tell me,” At this point, even Elijah didn’t know what he was eluding to. Damon paused heavily before responding, obviously holding his tongue.

“Sure,” Damon fake smiled, moving away quickly from Elijah but not before flicking his eyes over the balcony, a movement so little and unimportant that even a vampire would be stupid to make something of it, never mind an original. But right now, it was safe to say that Elijah’s head wasn’t on straight, with a growl in the back of his throat he walked right back into his room.

Depression – even the sight of her had opened the floodgates of emotions that had been buried for literally hundreds of years. Pain and guilt be the strongest of the bunch. Images of y/n’s face as she learnt about the secrets of the Mikaelson family, her crying into his shoulder as the moon was high in the sky, all the pain and distress him loving her had caused. Her blood sitting between his lips. Elijah had lived long enough to experience situations like this more than once. Situations where the pain is too sharp, too pure, that you didn’t cry, you didn’t wallow, you simply moved straight into the weight of depression. Depression would forever be the reason for Elijah’s sometimes considerably mechanic behaviour, besides, he had turned off all his emotion after her.

Acceptance – Elijah left his room behind, with its rich brown walls and strings upon strings of leather bound books. There was a problem that he needed to deal with tonight, any new ones that arose would have to wait until the sun rose up again tomorrow.

* * *

 

Y/n had spent the evening drifting from posh person to posh person, vaguely seeing their mouths moving but hearing the conversation Klaus was having with a young woman across the room. Ever since she had found out who Klaus was she had practically stalked him the whole evening, listening in on every word he even whispered using her advanced hearing.

It was funny how quickly the desire to meet Elijah had been replaced with wanting to know Klaus more, it was only towards the end of the evening that the name ‘Elijah’ even passed through her mind. Politely excusing herself from the wine cynosure, y/n spotted Elena across the room chatting with a handsome man in a fitted black suit.

“Y/n,” Elena said softly as she saw her approaching.

“Hi Elena,” Y/n smiled gently, “Look, I need your help.”

“Really? What’s wrong?” Elena immediately looked worried, her brows furrowing and hands beginning to shake.

“Oh, no sweetie,” Y/n immediately responded, “Nothing terrible,” She then looked Elena over, picking up on just how strange and uncomfortable she was acting, “Unless there’s something wrong with you?” Elena simply gave a y/n a look that translated exactly into ‘later’.

“Why do you need my help?” Elena asked.

“Well, I um,” Y/n immediately lowered her voice and moved closer to Elena, visibly flicking her eyes back and forth from Elena to the stranger standing less than a meter away.

“Oh um, sorry I didn’t introduce you two,” Elena mumbled, “Y/n, this is Elijah,” Y/n was just about to drag Elena away and have a conversation in private but that name stopped her in her tracks.

“Elijah this is…”

“Y/n.” His voice melted into the air.

If y/n had thought the image of Klaus had brought back a wave of memories, Elijah’s presence brought a tsunami in comparison. It was almost too much to bear. The worst thing about it all was that there was no real evidence that she had ever known him, just a feeling, and a strong one at that. Y/n’s breath grew shallow and she found herself thinking one thing – _I don’t want to be here_. That’s why she was so thankful for the mother original to interrupt the conversation.

“Ladies and gentleman…” The woman began causing everyone’s eyes to swim up towards the top of the staircase. Y/n flicked her eyes up to the woman, fiercely avoiding the sight of Elijah Mikaelson. Y/n could barely hear what the woman was saying over the noise of the blood rushing thick and heavy around her body, soon the image of Esther blended and blurred, and it took y/n a full 30 seconds to realise that her eyes were filling up with tears.

Blinking rapidly, y/n felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She was stronger than this. Glancing around she suddenly noticed that everyone around her was smiling and raising their glasses before taking a sip of the rouge champagne. She caught the eye of a young man across the room, a man who smiled darkly before wetting his lips with the drink – Klaus. Turning away immediately, y/n came face to face again with Elijah. It was just too much.

“Y/n?” Elena’s voice swam from somewhere behind her, “Are you okay?”

Looking at Elijah she could only say one thing.

“I have to get out of here.”

* * *

It was somewhere between late night and early morning as Elijah sat in the main room, still dressed in his smart suit, fine whisky in hand, deep in thought.

“I’d thought you’d have given up by now,” Klaus said overly cheerily as he strode in, heading for the drinks table. Elijah didn’t respond for a moment.

“How is she back…Klaus?” Elijah could only stare at the carpeted floor.

“Asking the wrong person mate,” Klaus drank.

“She...” Elijah hated how broken his voice sounded.

“She what?” Klaus furrowed his brows, moving a little closer to his brother. When was the last time they had had a civilised conversation?

“She recognised me.”

“Me too,” Klaus felt his jaw tighten as he sunk onto the couch opposite his brother.

“How can she? Recognise us I mean,”

“We were young when we took away her memories brother,” Klaus sighed, taking another drink, “Not even 100 years old. We were bound not to do a very good job.”

“When _you_ took away her memories, you mean,” Elijah’s voice dropped suddenly, and the words almost came out as a growl. Klaus abruptly stood, cocking his head to the side.

“I was protecting you, Elijah.”

“Yeah,” Elijah winced, lifting his glass to his lips, “Keep telling yourself that.”


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vampire y/n returns to Mystic Falls after finding out her friend Stefan Salvatore has gone off the rails with blood, what she doesn’t expect to happen is find out her deep-rooted connections with the Mikaelson family, in particular – Elijah.

It was safe to say that y/n had barely got an hour of sleep that night. Partially because of her issue with the entire Mikaelson family, partially because in the room next to hers she could hear Damon’s entire evening with one of them, Rebekah.

It was such a bad night that when the light first began to hum through the edges of her curtain, y/n was already dressed and sitting at her desk. She had a pen flicking back and forth across her fingers, she had described everything that had happened the night before into her journal and had even drawn out some of the images that had come into her mind.

Soon, she couldn’t bear the four walls of her room anymore and walked down into the living room to find Stephan with his nose in a book.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Y/n asked already pouring herself a drink, well _that_ didn’t take long.

“Hmm,” Stefan said not looking up from his book, “I actually slept quite well. After so many years living with Damon, you learn to just block it out.” He turned the page.

“I wasn’t so lucky. I think I’ll pick up some ear muffs today,” Y/n took a sip, “I still can’t believe he brought home _Rebekah_.”

“Wait,” Stefan’s book snapped shut, “The girl in his room is _Rebekah_?” Y/n grinned and nodded, “God,” Stefan muttered under his breath.

“It’s just his self-destructive tendencies,” Y/n sighed collapsing onto the couch next to Stefan, leaning her head against his shoulder as she drank.

“How many times can we use that as an excuse?” Stefan opened his book back up, “Did I tell you he tried to go after Kol last night.”

“Kol?”

“The Mikaelson’s little brother,”

“Ugh,” Y/n squeezed her eyes tight, she had just forgotten about that family.

“What’s your plan?” Stefan asked, his eyes still scanning the words on the paper in front of him.

“I have _no_ idea,” Y/n sighed after a moment, “But, I do know that I’m not backing out. I mean it all makes sense. First, I hear their names and they feel _so_ familiar, then I meet them last night and…I just would be stupid to ignore how I felt then _and_ I was thinking, they’re originals…they could compel me to forget,” Stefan’s eyes drifted from his book to the fire.

“That’s…true,” Stefan pondered. Silence settled between the two of them for a couple of minutes before, “But what could have happened that was so bad that you had to have your memories taken away?”

“I don’t know,” Y/n sighed, “But whatever it is. I deserve to know, I have the _right_ to know.” It was at this moment that two figures floated gracefully down the stairs, even if their appearances were not.

“Let’s not make a big deal of this,” Rebekah’s relaxed hum echoed into the room, both Stefan and y/n’s heads shifted over to the door where they were headed, Damon wearing nothing but a sheet around his waist.

“My thoughts exactly,” Damon smiled at her before spotting y/n and Stefan on the couch, “You two look cosy.” These words caused Rebekah to spin around, clearly ready to defend herself to whoever was sitting there, but one of the people who were, caused her to freeze.

“Y/n?” Rebekah’s voice sounded slightly strangled, a sudden anger swelled thick and fast within y/n. She was simply so sick of there being so much God damn evidence that the Mikaelson family knew her and yet she still had no idea how she knew them or any of her memories back.

“Do I know you?” Y/n basically growled through gritted teeth, surprising herself.

“I um…” Rebekah shifted her weight from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable, “I’m leaving.” She said after a moment and Damon simply nodded behind her, opening the door to a ready to knock Elena.

“I think we should leave,” Stefan whispered quickly into y/n’s ear.

“Aww, and miss all the drama,” Stefan simply gave a y/n a look before standing quickly and heading upstairs. _Ugh, sometimes that boy is too moral._ Y/n clearly became a fly in the water as Damon and Elena began to argue, Elena, talking about how Rebekah tried to kill her less than 48 hours ago and Damon telling her that last night had nothing to do with her. Y/n was just nearly getting bored when Elena said something that had everything y/n was interested in.

“You should know…that I basically just signed all of their death sentences – Including Elijah!”

“Why do you care about Elijah?” Damon snappily responded.

“What’s this about Elijah?” Y/n emerged from the shadows of the couch giving Elena a small fright.

“Oh God, y/n, you’re here,” Elena sighed, one hand over her heart.

“Yeah I…kind of live here now.” Y/n glanced between the two of her friends quickly before continuing, “What’s this about Elijah.”

“Well,” Elena looked at Damon, “Last night, Esther Mikaelson used _my_ blood to link all five of the original children as one. The reason for that being, she wants to kill all of them.”

“But…”

“Well, if something happens to one of them, it happens to all. So, if one of them dies…”

“They all die.” Damon finished off.

“Oh,” Y/n sighed heavily, this was the last thing she needed right now, “So what are we going to do to stop that?”

“Do?” Damon’s brows jumped up his face, “We are not going to _do_ anything. All of them dying is a _good_ thing, remember?”

“Damon, I still don’t know about my relationship with them.” Y/n moved closer to him, “Look, I’m not asking for you to help keep all of them alive forever I could never ask that of you. I’m just asking for one of them, either Elijah or Klaus.”

“I vote Elijah,” Elena said from behind.

“Y/n,” Damon’s voice was like shattered glass, “You’re not going to be able to care about your past if you’re dead. Having all the originals wiped out is a blessing and I refuse to stop such a mighty act of karma. Besides, your past is not my problem, but killing the originals, _is_.”

Silence sat thick and heavy in the room, and after a few minutes Elena turned around to leave, y/n quickly following.

“Hey, where are you two going?” Damon called after them.

“We’re going to go do a good thing,” Elena’s voice rang out. Y/n stopped briefly at the door and looked over her shoulder.

“But don’t worry,” Y/n said, “It’s not your problem.”

* * *

“Like Damon was proud of himself for sleeping with her,” Elena sighed at the end of her bed, “Is it working?” She glanced down at where Bonnie was focusing on a pot of sage.

“Nope,” Caroline came in, her blonde hair bouncing as she moved, “Look, I don’t think you should worry as much as you do about Damon, he’s clearly not worth it.”

“Caroline’s right,” Y/n popped up from Elena’s desk where she was flicking through a teen magazine, “Damon sleeping with Rebekah is just him acting out as he always does. It’s his self-destructive tendencies. He’s had it ever since Katherine, probably giving her – or himself – a reason why his love was not enough.”

“How do you know so much about Damon?” Caroline’s brows furrowed.

“Like I said,” Y/n smiled at her, “I was his best friend for a while, I helped him through his shit and Lexi helped Stefan through his. Lexi and I were kind of like a weird vampire version of Fairly Odd Parents.”

“You knew Lexi?” Elena asked, perching on the end of the bed.

“Yeah,” Y/n smiled sadly, “She’s amazing, isn’t she? When I heard she died and… _how_ I nearly came to Mystic Falls and beat up Damon myself.”

“Why didn’t you?” Caroline asked, amused.

“I was busy in northern England,”

“Doing what?” Y/n glanced up.

“It’s a really…long story.” The three girls glanced between themselves.

“We’ve got time.”

* * *

“Wait, wait, wait,” Caroline spoke through a mouth full of popcorn, “So if last night, Klaus felt like a lover to you does that mean that you two have had sex?”

“I don’t know,” Y/n grimaced, sucking on a salty uncooked kernel, “But God I hope not, not after all the shit he’s done.”

“Understandable,” Bonnie nodded. There was a pause, and Bonnie shifted awkwardly on the bed, glancing between her friends.

“Look you guys should know,” Bonnie began, “Esther came to see me and Abby this morning,”

“What?” Elena exclaimed.

“Yeah…the rituals happening tonight.”

“What?” Elena exclaimed again, “But Elijah…”

“I know,” Bonnie said, clearly not that bothered about him.

“Look, I know this is going to sound crazy,” Elena said looking between her friends, “But I can’t let him die…it just doesn’t feel right.”

“I know,” Caroline sighed, “But if it means we can kill Klaus…”

No one responded. Y/n knew at that moment that the majority of people in this town would think that killing Elijah was a small price to pay if it also meant that Klaus was dead. If only she could get her memories back before their bodies turned.

* * *

Y/n was laying on her bed, a playlist of songs she didn’t recognise echoing through her room. The images and ideas and questions that were whirring around her head had given her a headache a few hours ago that somehow was still pounding.

“Y/n, darling!” Damon’s voice drifted up the stairs calling her back to reality. Furrowing her brows slightly at Damon calling her ‘darling’ y/n rolled off her bed, brushing down her clothes before heading downstairs.

“What do you need now-” Y/n began asking as she moved down the steps, but when she reached the bottom she found a sight that she definitely didn’t expect. Damon and Stefan looked as though they were having some sort of standoff with none other than Elijah Mikaelson. Y/n opened her mouth to say something but found that there was something stuck in her throat.

“Y/n why don’t you put on that short, little red dress I like so much?” Damon’s eyes were fully fixed on Elijah watching for his reaction. Elijah kept his eyes on y/n and y/n was looking at Damon, like some kind of triangle of intense staring.

“And… _why_ Damon, would I do that?” Y/n found her voice and proceeded to watch carefully as Damon smirked at Elijah before turning to her, giving her a knowing look.

“Because…I’m going to need a _distraction_.”

* * *

It was less than 10 minutes later and y/n had pulled on the red dress, a long dark coat and her favourite classic pair of Louis Vuitton heels.

“So, what’s the plan again?” Y/n asked as she headed for the door.

“Look, all you need to know is that Klaus and Kol have been spotted by Rick at the Mystic Grill, and what I need you and Caroline to go do is distract them.”

“Okay,” Y/n flicked her hair out from her coat, “Just keep me updated on anything you need me to do okay? I want to help.”

“Yeah, I know, I know…just go distract for now.” Damon smiled, practically pushing her out the door.

“Oh, don’t worry, I plan to do a lot more than that.”

* * *

“Y/n!” Caroline’s sweet voice called out over the mild chatter from inside the Mystic Grill.

“Caroline,” Y/n smiled broadly, running up to the girl and giving her a quick hug, “Damn girl,” Y/n grinned looking Caroline up and down, “Klaus is going to lose his shit.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it.” Caroline smiled as her breath made a small cloud in the cold night’s air, curling her arm around y/n’s elbow, “Come on, let’s go and be distracting.”

Walking into the bar the first person y/n noticed was Rick who was currently talking on the phone, and by the sound of it, he was talking to Damon. The plan was, Caroline would distract Klaus and take him outside whilst y/n remained inside and finally got to have a little chat with Kol Mikaelson.

“Is that the girl from last night?” She heard what must be Kol saying from across the room, “On the arm of…wait…no,”

“Oh yeah,” Klaus murmured, “ _She’s_ back in town.”

“Does Elijah know?” The two were talking so quietly it was almost impossible to hear, but the name ‘Elijah’ recently stuck out like a sore thumb in any and all conversations. Taking off her jacket, y/n chucked it onto the coat rack before following Caroline up the stairs towards the bar.

“Caroline!” Klaus called out excitedly, “Can I buy you a drink?”

“Hmm, I’d rather die of thirst,” She responded lightning quick before turning on her heels and striding confidently out of the bar. Klaus glanced at his brother before standing and quickly chasing after the beautiful blonde but not before pausing in front of y/n. He looked as though he was going to say something, but the thought passed and soon he was on his way.

“Aren’t you going to go after her?” Kol said after a moment, a boyish grin stretched across his cheeks.

“I think she can just about handle herself, don’t you?” Y/n smiled softly at the man, it was strange, he didn’t scream any immediate memories. Leaning over the bar y/n ordered a drink, tonight, she would start investigating.

* * *

“Oh, come on!” Kol laughed.

“No!” Y/n grinned back.

“Let me buy you one drink, that’s all I ask.”

“I’ll let you buy me one drink if you can remember my friend’s name, the blonde one who walked in with me.” Y/n smiled mischievously, she’d hate to admit but she was actually having a really nice time.

“Oh, come on,” Kol groaned, but he was still smiling.

“Hey, I’ve mentioned her at least 5 times. It’s not my fault you don’t listen.”

“I listen!” Kol exclaimed before ordering himself a drink.

“Prove it,” Y/n took a sip of her bourbon.

“I know your name is y/n l/n that you were born in y/h/t and you used to be a flower girl, you have a brother named Alex and you were born in 1111.” Y/n felt her muscles tighten, her glass resting on her lip. Alex’s brows furrowed as he watched y/n’s stiff actions, “Did I overstep my boundaries?”

“No, it’s um,” Y/n felt like smiling but she pulled herself together, “Well you see Kol Mikaelson, I never told you when I was born, yes I told you I am a vampire but not _when_ I was born. Also, I never knew that I was a flower girl…or that I even had a brother.” She watched as Kol’s face turned from playful to emotionless, it was like watching a coin flip, “Now, tell me, how could you know that? Unless you… _knew_ me, 900 years ago?”

“Hmm,” Kol chuckled under his breath, pulling his coat back on, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” In a flash, y/n had pinned his hand onto the bar, sure he was stronger, but she had his attention.

“Look, I know you know me, in fact, I know your whole family knows me. So why don’t we just cut the crap and stop playing this game where you all think I’m a complete idiot.” Kol looked down at her hand before looking straight into her eyes, all the playfulness gone.

“I’m not the one you should be having this conversation with y/n.”

“Oh, really?” Y/n cocked her head to the side, “And why’s that.”

“Because y/n,” He smiled softly, “It wasn’t me who you fell in love with.”

Something about that sentence just tugged on y/n’s final straw. Quickly, and whilst no one was looking, y/n grabbed a fistful of Kol’s hair at the back of his head and smashed his head straight through the bar, bringing the top half of his body down where y/n’s other hand had a certain dagger dipped in ash of the white oak tree was waiting to put him to rest. She pushed it through his heart and watched as the skin at the back of his neck turned grey and veiny.

Sighing heavily, she brought the ‘dead’ body up and leant it over the bar twisting around to check that no one noticed, thankfully everyone nearby probably thought that the smash had come from somewhere behind the counter. She quickly gave Rick and his date the thumbs up before turning back around. Glancing over she noticed Kol’s fresh drink left untouched.

“Um, bartender?” She smiled broadly at the cute man behind the bar, he immediately smiled back and leant in a little closer to her. That’s the thing about vampires, they have a small but powerful attraction to their prey, kind of like a magnetic booby trap. “Is this drink pre-paid?” She said sweetly.

“Um, yeah,” It seems as though the bar-tender just noticed Kol, slumped over and motionless.

“Nothing to worry about here,” She quickly said into his eyes and immediately his smile grew, and he moved away.

“Well…Kol.” She reached over and picked up the drink and took a sip, “Looks like you’ll be buying me a drink after all.”

* * *

It was a few minutes later and y/n and Rick were dragging the body of Kol Mikaelson into the back alley with Rick’s new girlfriend and Damon looking on.

“Thanks, y/n, nice work,” Damon swiftly gave y/n a high five after she dropped the body.

“Ahh, I think it’s you who _I_ should be thanking,” Y/n bent down and looked right at the lifeless eyes of the boy she had been laughing with literally 5 minutes ago, “For walking right into my trap.”

Damon was just going to respond when something flashed by, swiftly pulling the dagger out of Kol’s chest and taking out both Rick and his girlfriend. When it came to a standstill it was obviously Klaus, an angry Klaus.

“I should have killed you months ago,” Klaus glowered at Damon before turning to y/n, “And as for you…”

“Oh, come on Klaus, you wouldn’t hurt an _old friend,_ would you?” Klaus just squinted his eyes and cocked his head.

“ _You don’t remember_.” He said knowingly, a glowering smile pulling at his lips.

“Remember?” Y/n felt a smile slowly creep on her face, “Who said anything about forgetting? But thanks...for confirming my suspicions, and trust me, after the enlightening chat I just had with your brother, you’ll be hearing from me soon.”

* * *

Shortly after that, Klaus disappeared with Kol and then, Damon disappeared. Y/n was aware that she wasn’t fully in on whatever plan Damon and Stefan had, and she didn’t expect to be. She still had some way to go to be back in the position of trust she was in with them so many years ago. So, she made sure that Rick and his girlfriend got home safely before she herself went back to the Salvatore mansion.

Still in her dress and heels, she rapidly wrote down everything she figured out that night, words flowing from her pen like blood from a wound.

But soon she found herself stuck thinking of the way that Elijah had looked at her tonight, his face trademark emotionless but his eyes, his eyes bled grief and pain and punishment. Following the thought of Elijah, she heard what Kol had said before ringing in her ears _‘it wasn’t me who you loved’_.

So she had loved him. Or maybe she had loved Klaus. Or maybe she was a lot more like her old friend Katherine than she had ever thought.


	6. Chapter Six

Later that night, Kol was standing in the main living room with the rest of his family, mulling over the conversation he had had with y/n earlier that night.

“What are you smiling about?” Rebekah asked, peering at him over the top of her Vogue.

“Nothing important sister,” Kol smiled into his drink.

“Could it have something to do with the lovely y/n?” Klaus asked from where he was brooding near the fire, tearing away pages from his notebook and letting them flutter into the flames. This caught Elijah’s attention.

“You were with y/n tonight?” Elijah glanced over at his younger brother.

“Yeah,” Kol smiled almost sympathetically at him, “She and Caroline were used as _distractions_. But it still took a good few hours for her to have my guard down.”

“And then what? “Rebekah asked, finding this a lot more interesting than the latest high fashion.

“Nothing,” Kol said quickly, pouring himself another drink.

“Nothing?” Klaus exclaimed, “I wouldn’t call smashing your head through a bar and stabbing you with a knife, nothing.” This caused a soft chuckle to echo through the siblings.

“Sounds like y/n to me,” Elijah murmured, his eyes turning cloudy.

“Tell me about it,” Kol faintly smiled, “She always used to get a good crack when throwing my head through wooden objects.” There was an odd feeling in the room, an elephant that wasn’t quite being addressed, “You all know that she remembers us, right?” Kol finally said.

“Not remembers Kol, recognises,” Klaus corrected.

“It doesn’t matter does it?” Rebekah continued, “She’s going to find out one way or another, I say it’s our responsibility that the way she does find out is the least painful.” She stood up from the sofa, facing Klaus in particular, “We at least owe her that much.”

“And what way would you suggest?” Klaus asked, his voice flat and serious.

“I’ll tell her.”

It almost felt as though Elijah was emerging from the shadows when he said that. See, not one member of than Mikaelson family had actually been there for Elijah the day that they had left y/n in northern England, at the end of the day they all had their own problems to deal with. Really, this was the first time any of them had seen Elijah addressing the problem in nearly 850 years. “It’s only right that she learns it from me.”

* * *

“How is he?” Y/n was waiting patiently for Damon as soon as he walked through the door.

“He’s…fine,” Damon sighed. They, of course, were talking about Rick who had just been shot the night before and was now in prison as the main suspect for the recent killings across town.

“How’s Bonnie?” Y/n asked. The knowledge that Damon had turned Bonnie’s mother into a vampire without a second thought had been haunting y/n ever so slightly, maybe Damon wasn’t as good as he first appeared to be.

“Bonnie?” Damon raised an eyebrow, “I don’t know, she’s not my responsibility,”

“Damon,” Y/n sighed. Over the past few days, she had seen how Damon’s love for Elena had meant that he was more than happy to harm a few other people to ensure her safety, and it was, unfortunately, Bonnie who seemed to get most of the backlash.

“What y/n?” Damon stopped right in front of her folded arms, “Bonnie hates me-”

“You ever wondered why?” A muscle in Damon’s jaw flicked on and off after hearing this.

“Look, I’m the last person Bonnie wants to see right now and besides, I don’t need this from you.” Y/n let him walk swiftly up the stairs to his room, her eyes focused on the door he had just come in from. It took a moment, but soon she heard Damon and Stefan talking, but only for a second, because she was already out of the door.

* * *

Walking into Mystic Grill, y/n’s eyes immediately spotted who she was looking for. Rebekah Mikaelson currently in deep discussion with the town’s mayor. Her eyes swiftly met y/n’s for a soft moment but they quickly snapped right back to the mayor. _That’s okay_ y/n thought _I’ve got time_.

It was mere minutes later, and y/n had already taken a seat at the bar, noticing the repairman a few seats down, fixing what mess Kol’s head had made the night before. Y/n was trying one of Damon’s favourite whisky’s when in walked the devil himself, trailing behind his brother. The two spotted her and picked up a chair either side of her before tumbling down into deep discussion.

“Y/n, do you remember 1912 in Mystic Falls?” Damon immediately piped up taking a sip of her drink whilst he waited for his own.

“Sure I do,” Y/n said, snatching her drink back, “Cold, wet and mildly depressing. Weren’t people gathered together for some kind of…”

“Funeral, yeah,” Stefan mumbled. But before the conversation could go any further the small group gained an extra addition.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” The voice of Rebekah snapped through the conversation as she took a seat next to Stefan on y/n’s left. Y/n focused on her drink and simply listened to the conversation that pursued. There were comments on 1912, the Salvatore family line and the serial killer that was around back then until eventually, Damon came out with.

“You know if you want more sex, you just have to ask,”

“Not enough liquor in the world,” Rebekah responded without a second thought, leaning across the bar.

“Yeah, it’s funny just how many people feel like that after having sex with Damon,” Y/n said before she could have stopped herself. She immediately felt a sinking feeling in her gut. True, she wasn’t fully buddies with Damon at the moment, but it wasn’t her place to say that.

“Oh really?” Damon asked, taking the comment in his stride, “Is that how you felt, after the first time I mean, because you seemed to enjoy it enough to keep coming back for more.” Y/n raised an eyebrow at Damon before finishing her drink, she wasn’t drunk enough yet to have this conversation.

“Wait,” Rebekah turned her full body to face both y/n and Damon, “ _You two_ , have had sex?”

“Once or twice,” Y/n said after a moment.

“Once or twice?” Damon asked slightly incredulously, “I can count definitely a few more times than that.”

“I’m not having this conversation,” Y/n immediately responded, giving Damon a little glare before turning back to Rebekah who seemed a little too interested. “Look, I’m going to cut the crap and get to the point because I was hoping I’d see at least one Mikaelson today.” Rebekah cocked her head, “I’m not going to do this, I’m not going to talk with you or be friends with or even _tolerate_ your presence until you come clean about our history. I’m not here to play games, Rebekah.”

“I understand,”

“So?” Y/n turned fully to Rebekah, maybe she was finally going to get somewhere with this.

“So, I don’t think there’s any reason for you to hang around anymore,” Rebekah responded without a second thought. Pausing for a moment to glare at the girl, y/n grabbed the nearly full bottle that Rebekah had just paid for and left without another word.

* * *

It was a few days later and y/n was going around in circles, all the information she had came from her journal and she had read and re-read it so many times she had soon grown to hate the book. Nothing in the Salvatore library or even home dated back far enough to the 12th century meaning that she had two options. One – go out and track down the Mikaelson’s even though Rebekah gave the impression that no one would say anything or two – be in a constant state of tipsiness and read all of Stefan’s journals _with_ his permission. You can see which option took the least amount of energy.

She wasn’t necessarily interested in reading about the years where she wasn’t here or where all the pages that talked of Stefan’s pure and unhinged desire for blood. She did, however, adore reading about the time she spent here in the very beginning with Katherine and Pearl and then again in the 1950s where each day was relaxed and chill, hanging out with the Salvatore brothers and Lexi – that period was the closest she had ever had to a normal human life.

Y/n had even dipped into the more recent years, reading about Stefan first meeting Elena when her parents crashed over the side of Wickery Bridge, the Vicky Donovan series and even Katherine coming back into town. God, when was the last time she had seen that girl. She was just flipping into the more recent events, events she had been here for when she heard a soft piano echo from downstairs. Creeping down the stairs, thinking it was Damon, y/n was shocked to find a paid pianist sitting next to none other than the red-headed Sage.

“Sage?” Y/n asked excitedly, rushing down the steps to quickly hug her.

“Oh my gosh, y/n? Why didn’t I know you were in town?” Sage gripped her by the elbows, smiling broadly.

“I’ve kind of been cooped up here for the past few days.”

“Ahh, you’re staying with Damon I see,” Sage’s brows flicked up and down in a second.

“Yeah, but not like that,” Y/n’s eyes drifted over to where Damon was viewing this conversation with a puzzled look on his face, “Damon and I are way past that stage, aren’t we?”

“You guys know each other?” He just asked.

“Of course,” Sage smiled, “We toured the majority of Europe together in the 18th century.”

“Oh yes!” Y/n grinned, the memories flooding back to her, “That’s when I met Mary Shelley, I always knew she was going to be a star as soon as I read Frankenstein,”

“Oh yay,” Damon said after a moment, “Well, y/n, if you’re not here to help get into Rebekah’s head then kindly go and leave us be,”

“What are you doing?” Y/n looked between her two friends.

“Rebekah’s up to something,” Damon said, “I want to know what.”

“What Damon is trying to say is that he’s going to bring her guard down, so I can root around her head and try and figure out what she’s up to,” Sage continued.

“You’re going to use her?” Y/n turned to Damon. She normally wouldn’t get mad at the idea of some plot to figure out Rebekah’s evil plans, but she knew what it felt like to be used. No one deserved that.

“Oh don’t get pissy at me y/n,” Damon sighed, “She could be planning to slit all our throats for all I know and I’d at least like to be aware of that situation if it arises,” Damon gave a y/n a stern look, “Look, she basically told you the other day that she’d never tell you what happened all those years ago, never give you those memories back so…you have to take them back. Now I’m not saying anything but this could be a perfect opportunity…” Y/n paused for a moment, her mind flipping back and forth over a perfect plan. Sure no one deserved to be used, but all y/n could think of at that moment was the look on Rebekah’s face as she told her to leave. She turned to Sage.

“When you’re looking around Rebekah’s head, can I ask you to do something for me as well?”

* * *

Y/n still wasn’t quite sure how she had got into this position. She was currently dancing around with Sage in the living room with a bottle of Asti in hand as Damon and Rebekah talked upstairs. Although, it didn’t sound like there was much talking going on. Y/n had just jumped onto the couch with Sage when Sage came to an abrupt stop.

“Shh,” She put a hand over y/n’s mouth, “I think Rebekah’s sleeping.” y/n nodded before turning off the stereo. She then watched as Sage snuck quietly up the stairs, going to do what she did best.

Y/n found herself collapsing onto the sofa with a deep thud. At this point, she didn’t know if she was tipsy or if this was how she simply felt all the time now. Her head was pounding and her mind swimming, repeating the same God damn questions over and over and over. And of course, _his_ face had popped up in her mind again, the way he had looked at her at the ball and then again when he had watched Damon call her a ‘distraction’. Why was it that everything, even her thoughts, circled back to him?

After five minutes on the sofa y/n stood up and made her way up the stairs into Damon’s room where he was currently lying tangled in the sheets with Rebekah, Sage perched above her looking through her mind. It took a moment, but Sage’s eyes snapped open and she peered behind her at y/n, standing she headed towards the door taking y/n’s wrist and leading her into the hallway.

“Well, did you see something?” Y/n asked, her arms folded as she glimpsed at the redhead.

“Not exactly,” Y/n felt the annoyance swell within her once more, she wasn’t annoyed at Sage, she was annoyed at the Mikaelson’s more than anybody, “But I did get a feeling.” Y/n’s brows furrowed and she cocked her head to the side.

“And?” She asked warily.

“There’s…there’s a lot of pain there, a lot of regrets.” Y/n felt herself nod numbly, “But there’s also a lot of happiness, Rebekah thinks very fondly of you. I think…I think there might have even been a time where you were the closest person in her life.” Y/n found her eyes focusing on the sight over Sage’s shoulder, the sight of Rebekah sleeping peacefully, completely unaware of how she was being betrayed yet again.

 

Y/n dissolved back into the shadows after the conversation with Sage, finding herself once more sprawled out on her bed. After a few minutes of hearing Damon and Sage talking she heard a car start up outside. _That could be Rebekah_ , she thought. How had that girl from a few days ago be the same one that could possibly be her best friend so many years ago? She was just mulling this over when Damon slammed her door so hard open that it almost snapped off its hinges.

“Where’s Sage?” He growled out.

“Sage?” Y/n confusedly mumbled, rubbing at her sleepy eyes, “She left with Rebekah, didn’t she?” Damon simply stared angrily into y/n eyes for a moment before turning around and connecting his fist with the wall next to her door frame.

“ _Hey_!” Y/n jumped up, but not before Damon had made a neat little hole in the wall.

“Come on!” He growled out, walking quickly out the room and down the steps.

“Where are we going?” Y/n asked, grabbing her jacket and following.

“On a road trip.”

* * *

“Damon!” Y/n squeaked out as he carelessly swerved around a corner.

“Are you mad y/n?” Damon simply said, “Because I need you to be God damn raging?”

“Why?” Y/n had on hand gripping on to the door and the other planted firmly on the dashboard trying desperately to keep herself stable.

“Because for God’s sake y/n, that family screwed you over and in my personal opinion, I wouldn’t be looking for answers, I’d be looking for revenge.”

“What’s got into you?” Y/n was getting slightly hysterical as Damon sped through a narrow lane, tall thick trees hurtling past all around them.

“Sage and Rebekah have just taken the last of the white oak!”

“Couldn’t you just say that in the _first place_!” Y/n felt her seatbelt digging its claws into her skin and she squeezed her eyes tight, and then it stopped. Looking up she saw that Damon had stopped just outside of Wikery Bridge where Rebekah seemed to be hosting a small campfire.

“What the hell?” Y/n quickly followed Damon out of the car only to come face to face with a familiar redhead, “What did you do?” Y/n glared at Sage.

“I’m not going to fight you, y/n,” Sage said calmly.

“Who said I was looking for a fight? I genuinely have no clue what’s going on.”

“What’s going on is that I just did something that you should be forever thankful for.”

“Excuse me?”

“I just burned the last of the wood that could possibly kill any originals, I didn’t just save Finn tonight. I saved Elijah,”

“Oh my _God_!” Y/n growled out, throwing her head back, “Why does everything always come back to that stupid vampire!” She snapped her eyes onto Sage’s, “What makes you so sure I don’t want to end that family just as much as Damon?”

“Because you still need to find out what happened,”

“So?” Y/n threw her hands in the air, “How do you know that when I do find out what happened to me, which I’m guessing isn’t something particularly good, that I’m not going to want to slit all their throats?”

“Because I know what happened,” Sage said after a moment, her face illuminated by the flickering fire, “I saw it inside Rebekah’s head.” It suddenly felt as though ice had been poured down the back of y/n’s neck, “And when you do find out, I think killing that family is going to be the last thing you want to do.”

Y/n felt as though Sage had just slapped her in the face. She couldn’t even find her voice to respond, but all she could feel was pure and unhinged anger towards the girl she had been so close with only a few hundred years ago. Thankfully, Damon just joined the conversation.

Y/n watched with misty eyes as Damon and Sage growled it out. She would always have Damon’s back if things turned physical, especially since she and Sage were of similar ages. Drifting in and out of the conversation she found herself soon been dragged back to the car by a furious Damon.

* * *

Y/n was once more sitting in the car, however, this time she wasn’t quite fearing for her life. “So, what do we do now?” She piped up.

“When I looked into that logging book it described what the white oak was actually used for. You know like planks, rails and of course, a sign,”

“A sign?”

“Yeah, a big, original killing sign,”

“So?”

“Well, I know that Alaric happens to just have a sign that has ‘Wikery Bridge’ on it in big letters.”

“And that is the same sign? Meaning it’s made of…”

“Yeah,” Damon smiled at the road, “So what do you say? Let’s go kill some originals?”

“Yeah,” Y/n mumbled her eyes drifting back to the window, “Let’s.”


	7. Chapter Seven

Elijah was perched in the study, turning the pages of some old leather-bound book, distantly listening to Rebekah’s excited retelling of what she got up to the previous night.

“Elijah, are you listening to me?” Rebekah’s shrill voice cut through his swimming mind.

“Of course I am Rebekah,” Elijah responded without looking up.

“Well, I hope you are because I very easily could have blown your little plot to get back with y/n last night.” Elijah snapped his book shut and raised his eyes to his little sister.

“What are you talking about, Rebekah?” Elijah’s voice was cool and collected, a perfect disguise for any of the real emotion he was feeling, as per usual.

“Well, you see, when Sage went rooting around in my head for any evil plans of white oak she may or may not have found some information on what happened 900 years ago concerning a pretty little vampire named y/n.” Elijah sat a little straighter, moving a little further to the edge of his seat as he rested his elbows on his knees.

“And?”

“And I told Sage that I would burn all the remaining White Oak if only she would not tell y/n anything of what she found,” Elijah leant back, picking up his thick and detailed whiskey glass and taking a long sip.

“Thank you, Rebekah.” He said after a moment.

“You’re welcome. For that _and_ the White Oak business.” Rebekah smiled before turning and heading for the door, Elijah stood and quickly followed.

“So, I hear you’re tracking down Finn today with Niklaus,” Elijah commented as he strode alongside her.

“Yes, we’re going to once a for all break this bloody spell that binds us all together, and if you’re not planning to help then I suggest you stay as far out of it as possible, you know how Nik gets.” They had just about reached the front door when Rebekah swung around.

“Oh, and by the way. I’m planning on having a friend over later today.” Elijah gave Rebekah a look, “I’m just telling you because I’m going to be borrowing your bleeding chains whilst they’re over.” Rebekah gave a mischievous smile before swinging the door open before Elijah could comment.

“Y/n?” Rebekah said, her hand gripping onto the door frame. Elijah felt every muscle fibre ignite when he saw her, standing there, obviously just about to knock. Her hair catching the light in an almost ethereal fashion. She looked right at Elijah.

“I’m here to talk.”

* * *

That’s how y/n found herself standing in the overly posh and royal art gallery of Klaus Mikaelson whilst Elijah insisted on getting her a coffee. Walking around the room she took her time in viewing each and every art piece. It made sense that someone who had lived as long as him had to have picked up a hobby on the way and y/n would be the first to admit that she was slightly jealous. Even though she had lived a couple of centuries-long she had never had a hobby stick around with her as long Klaus had had painting.

“He’s painfully good, isn’t he?” Elijah said as he walked in, mug in hand, whiskey glass in the other, “I’ve heard many people say that it’s unfair he’s so talented at art, considering how bad he can be as a person.”

“Would you say that?” Y/n asked, staring at what seemed to be his latest piece, it was all blue and black and wintery. Kind of like a snowflake.

“Yes and no,” Elijah said softly, handing the mug over to her cold and expecting hands, “Despite the terrible things my brother has done,” He sighed heavily, “I know for a fact that there’s some good in him.”

“Have you seen it?” Y/n asked after a moment, keeping her eyes trained on the picture, “The good in him, I mean.” Elijah glanced down at the floor, his eyes trained and focused before he turned and looked right at her.

“I saw it all the time when we were younger.” He began, “When we weren’t even vampires and even in the first 100 years of being a vampire. He…cared,” Y/n turned at met his gaze, “He cared about his family, his friends. He loved openly but…there was always an underlining sadness with him, it always felt as though we all were just sitting around and waiting for the day he’d finally break.”

“What’d make you say that?” Y/n asked, sitting down on the nearest art table, careful to make sure there was no wet paint on it. It was odd, but it was easier talking with Elijah in this room than the neat living room they had been in moments before. This room felt raw and unfinished. Vulnerable.

“Well, our father hated him for something he couldn’t control. Everyone knew that.” Elijah spoke sadly.

“Oh,” Y/n cupped her mug in both hands and gently blew on the hot mixture, “How sad.”

“Yes,” Elijah remained standing but there was something about him this time that looked a lot more relaxed than any other. He was still wearing a suit, but he had taken off his jacket, removed his tie and undone the first few of his buttons. “You’re here to ask questions I’m guessing,” Elijah finally said.

“Oh,” Y/n said softly, smiling over the rim of her mug, “How did you know?” To her surprise, a soft smile warmed at the corner of his lips.

“Just an inkling.” His voice melted into the air, low and warm and harmonizing perfectly with the snapping of the fire not too far away. Standing up, y/n moved over to the fire and sat down, taking off her shoes and putting her socked feet right up to the warmth. It took a second but soon Elijah followed her. At first, he simply stood, peering down at y/n with a quizzical expression before sighing deeply and joining her on the floor. Leaning back into his hand and taking a long drink from his now golden liquor.

“So,” He said softly, now not meeting her gaze, “What do you want to know?”

* * *

“I have no idea,” Elena mumbled against the cold, “Stefan just said to meet us here.” Elena, Caroline and Matt were currently freezing their asses off in the middle of the woods where Stefan and Damon were supposed to meet them with, unknown by them, a bag full of white oak stakes.

“Where’s Bonnie?” Stefan’s voice came from behind them as he and Damon approached.

“With her mum,” Caroline answered turning towards the two.

“And y/n?” Stefan continued.

“Oh, she’s with Elijah right now,” Damon answered that one.

“Wait,” Matt interrupted, “Y/n is with Elijah, aka Klaus’s brother? An original?”

“Yep,” Damon popped the ‘p’.

“What is she doing over there, isn’t she in danger?” Matt continued.

“Matt,” Damon began, “Y/n is the least of anyone’s worries, a, she’s the strongest one here and that’s the highest compliment I give and b, none of the originals are going to hurt her. Apparently, she has some…history with them,” Damon said to an even more confused Matt.

“Wait, she’s on their side?” Matt asked.

“I don’t know,” Damon answered.

“No,” Elena interrupted, “When she was talking with me and Caroline she said that no matter what she would be on our side. You have to trust her Damon.”

“Yeah,” Damon sighed, “Believe me I trust her, but she definitely shouldn’t trust me right now.”

“Why’s that?” Stefan asked.

“Because,” Damon looked around, “The first chance I get, I’m killing Klaus even if I drag down the rest of his family with him. Including Elijah.”

“Okay,” Stefan said, after a full minute of silence, directing the conversation away, “You guys don’t need to worry about y/n right now because I gave her one of these this morning,” He said pulling out a bag full of white oak stakes.

“Oh, yeah,” Damon said, picking one up, “I told her she could use it on Elijah at any time and make this a whole lot easier for us but…she didn’t find it too funny.”

* * *

“My family and I moved to y/h/t in the late 11th century, we kept to ourselves mostly but would often travel down into the main town where people would sell herbs and clothes and even flowers. And, there was one flower girl in particular who just so happened to catch my eye.” A faint smile flickered across Elijah’s lips as he clearly thought of a memory.

“Who was it?” Y/n asked, intrigued.

“It was you,” Elijah said, his smile stretching even wider.

“Oh yeah, that’s what Kol said.” Y/n ran her finger around the rim of her now empty mug, “I was a flower girl.”

“Yes, well, I began talking to you immediately of course. And soon I would visit you every day,” Elijah chuckled to himself, “I’m pretty sure I ended up buying enough flowers to bankrupt all the gardens in the town and even the next one over. But, I simply couldn’t help myself.” Y/n listened carefully, noticing how Elijah’s voice grew slightly strained and sad, “You also happened to catch the attention of my brother Klaus, but in the beginning, that wasn’t a problem.” Y/n leaned in further, “And of course, it wasn’t too long before I found out about your brother, Alexander.”

Just as he said that name there was a loud crash from downstairs quickly followed by the noise of someone turning on the sound of some loud rock’n’roll music.

“What the hell was that?” Y/n said jumping up.

“I don’t know,” Elijah mumbled, also rising to his feet. Y/n quickly pulled her shoes back on before noticing how dark it had gotten outside.

“Oh, come on Damon, you know you can’t escape,” Y/n suddenly distantly heard the voice of Rebekah come from another room in the house.

“Damon?” Y/n turned to Elijah who suddenly remembered the conversation he had had with Rebekah not long ago.

“Y/n!” He reached out for her, but she was already gone, headed downstairs.

* * *

Creeping around the corners of the house it didn’t take y/n long before she walked into quite a scene. Damon was strung up by chains with blood dripping down his body like sweat whilst Rebekah looked on, Stefan and Klaus were having some sort of confrontation in the corner.

“Well this looks like fun,” She said before she could stop herself, Elijah only one step behind her.

“Y/n!” Klaus called out excitedly, “Come to join the party?” He then noticed Elijah standing behind her, “Or have you just come from one of your own?”

“What are you doing Klaus?” Elijah asked sternly, taking in the image of Damon strung up.

“You’re asking the wrong person mate, Damon is Rebekah’s plaything,” Klaus turned to where Rebekah was standing with a knife balanced between her fingers.

“Don’t get involved Elijah. He used me,” Rebekah looked disturbingly broken as she said this, “In the worst way.” Y/n felt her heart sink ever so slightly, she knew how she felt, “Actually, now I come to think about it. Y/n used me too. Why don’t I have you strung up as well, you can take Damon’s place if you like,” Her broken face snapped instantly into mischievous, “Limited time offer.” Even without turning around y/n felt something shift within Elijah as she said this.

“That wouldn’t make sense,” Y/n simply folded her arms, “I mean, it wasn’t me who you had sex with.”

“No, you’re right,” Rebekah’s eyes flicked back and forth between Damon, Elijah and Y/n, “I had sex with Damon didn’t I.” She walked up close to y/n and stared right into her eyes, “I guess that makes two of us.” A thick silence fell on the room.

“Alright I think we’ve strayed far enough from the point here,” Klaus interrupted, “Me and Stefan were just talking about how he’s managed to find 11 white oak stakes but has only brought 8 of them as a peace offering and…if you happen to know where any of the other three are that would be perfect,” Klaus said getting up close and personal with y/n.

Looking over Klaus’s shoulder, y/n peered at Stefan who could only have a defeated look on his face before gently nodding. Sighing whilst heavily rolling her eyes, y/n ran her hand along the inside of her coat before pulling out one of the other remaining white oak stakes.

“Here you go,” Y/n smiled gently before slamming it into his chest and turning back around to Stefan where she ran straight into Elijah. The look on Elijah’s face was somewhere between understanding and upset, but y/n simply couldn’t let that get to her, “What? It’s not like I was ever going to use it.” She found herself softly saying.

“Yeah,” Damon’s joked voice came from behind, “That’s what makes you so useless right now.”

“Damon I really don’t think you’re in any position right now to be getting on my nerves,” Y/n said simply turning back around and facing him.

“Here,” Rebekah said after a moment, “You can have him.” She walked over to his chains and undid the buckles that held the sharp razors into his wrists. “Bring us the stakes and you all live. Take your brother as a sign of good faith.” She said simply before walking right past everyone and out of the room.

As soon as she was out the room y/n was by Damon’s side, helping him get to his feet as she threw his arm over her shoulders, Stefan quickly joining at his other side. Moving past both Elijah and Klaus without another word the three of them walked as quickly as they could to the door, but not before y/n looked over her shoulder at Elijah. He had this weird look on his face that would surely haunt y/n’s memories for days.

It told y/n everything she needed to know about the situation. That no matter what might happen between Elijah and y/n, no matter what friendship they grew. They were in opposing sides. And nothing could change that.


	8. Chapter Eight

“Back for more I see.”

“Um, excuse me?” Y/n could already feel a smile stretching across her lips as she stepped inside, quickly following Elijah to God knows where. “It’s not my fault that I keep having to come back here because I’m trying to piece my memory back together,”

“Ahh, stop,” Elijah said, a smile of his own playfully flittering across his lips, “I’m going to start thinking that you’re just using me to figure out your long-lost history.” He stopped as soon as they entered the art room and quickly turned around to face y/n, leaving her only inches away from his chest.

It was the next day and, yes, y/n was back at the Mikaelson mansion for more. But only because she knew of Damon’s deep and dark plan that could possibly burst into life at any moment rendering Elijah Mikaelson dead. That meant that she needed answers, and she needed them quickly. Or at least, that’s why she _liked_ to believe she was there.

“Okay, no stalling, no casual chit-chat, no nothing,” Y/n walked over and collapsed on the only sofa in the room, “Get straight to the point, pick up where you left off yesterday.”

Y/n watched with careful eyes as Elijah slowly undid the first button on his shirt and loosened his tie ever so slightly.

“Ahh, but _where_ _was I_?” He fake pondered, looking around the room. In an instant, y/n had taken the silky cushion from behind her head and had thrown it straight at him, he, of course, deflected it with as much ease as a human might have batting away a fly. The cushion hurtled to the side and barely skimmed one of Klaus’s older paintings.

“Careful!” Y/n called out after a moment, unable to contain the smile that pinched at her cheeks. Elijah simply gave her an enigmatic look, but a look that somehow made y/n’s toes curl. “You don’t want to get in a fight with Klaus now do you?”

“No,” Elijah smiled distantly, “That would be dangerous,” He said slowly, a smile still pulled at his lips as he sat at the opposite end of the couch.

“That…would be _funny_ ,” Y/n smiled, already making herself comfortable, “I wish I could see that.”

“You did,” Elijah said, his smile fading ever so slightly, “Now and then back in the 12th century.” And just like that, y/n remembered the reason she had come here in the first place. She also found herself addressing a very obvious question, _when did it become so easy to talk to him?_

“But, let’s continue where we left off yesterday. Which was…me constantly buying flowers from you, correct?” Y/n simply nodded and made herself more comfortable as she watched Elijah’s eyes glaze over as he buried himself once more in the past.

“So I would buy flowers from you every day, and one day you didn’t have any but you were so afraid of disappointing me that you insisted you would go a pick some more, so, I tagged along. It was the first time we ever had a proper conversation and it was later that night when I knew.”

“You knew?” Y/n tilted her head and rested it against her palm.

“Knew that I was falling in love with you. I knew that I had liked you and found you very sweet and kind but, when I walked with you that day…I’m…not sure. Something just clicked.” There was an odd feeling in the room, “Anyways. Over time, I was seeing you every day. We would meet by a river that was shrouded in trees, very few people knew about it and you didn’t want your family to know about me, not in the beginning.

“We’d spend all afternoon there. Talking, writing and we even tried drawing each other once or twice. You even insisted on hitching up your skirt and wading into the river, you’d pick up rocks that you found were pretty and looked at the small fish that lived there. You would sometimes even just stand there, with the water rushing around your feet and the sun spilling onto your features.”

Y/n watched Elijah carefully as a distant smile echoed onto his cheeks. He wasn’t in the room right now, he was somewhere far away and sometime long ago.

“Well, it was on the grassy banks of that river where we first…” Elijah drifted off, his lazy smile turning into a look a little more serious but yet he still remained in his head, “I’m sorry,” He said after a moment, his voice so quiet and gentle, “Do you want to me to tell you about this?”

Y/n couldn’t take her eyes off him. Couldn’t stop looking at how piercing his jaw looked against the light of the fire, the ribbons upon ribbons of thick muscle that were visible underneath his crisp pale shirt. And not to even mention his lips.

“Yes,” Y/n mumbled, curling her legs up underneath her, “I want to know.” _I have to know._

“Well, it was just one of the many days we had spent by the river, although we stayed later that day. I think we simply just lost track of time and soon the sun was humming through the trees, setting on a horizon we couldn’t see. You jumped up,” Elijah chuckled slightly, “You were frantically rambling for a moment about how you needed to get back and what your parents might think. In your state of urgency, you hugged me and then…

“And then,” Y/n whispered.

“And then we were kissing. And I remember feeling the tug of your lips before I even touched them, I remember hearing your heart quicken and feeling your hands in my hair. I remember, so vividly, it genuinely feeling impossible to pull away. It felt _impossible_ to stop kissing you. And then, we were doing so much more.

“It was strange. As the sun set behind the trees, the sky seemed to explode into a whole spectrum of colours and not being able to see anything other than golden trees and glowing water, it seemed as though the whole world had burst into colour in that one moment and nothing felt quite real, nothing except…”

Elijah’s voice echoed into the silence. Y/n felt her hands slightly shake as he gently turned his head to look straight at her. Y/n watched as his eyes fluttered from across her face, taking in the dip at her temples and the shape of her brow, the curve of her jaw and the slope of her neck. She followed his gaze as he moved across her collar bones further down her plains of skin. She watched as his eyes skirted along the collar of her low-cut top, feeling his stare burn across the skin of her chest. But he stopped himself. He flicked his eyes to the ground and almost took a moment to regain his composure before he began to talk.

“Nothing felt real except for _you_.”

Y/n felt a soft sigh escaped her lips as he said this, “And that’s how it felt. That was _always_ how it felt when it came to you.” A soft and gentle pause.

“After that night, the very next day you said you couldn’t take it anymore. You said you wanted to be with me always and forever.”

“Always and forever?” Y/n asked, _why did that sound so familiar?_

“Yes,” Elijah said, his voice taking a dark turn, “Klaus very much liked this when he heard you say it. It was something of yours that you gave to him a very long time ago.”

“What happened next?” Y/n asked. Klaus was the last person she wanted to think of right now.

“Well, I could never truly be with you for always and forever, not at that point in time.”

“Why?”

“Because I had a secret,” Elijah said looking down. Y/n paused, taking this in.

“I didn’t know you were a vampire.”

“No,” Elijah basically whispered, “You didn’t. But you soon would.”

Y/n took a shaky breath. This was a lot to take in. Just as y/n opened her mouth to as another question she felt a strong buzz from her pocket and excusing herself, stood up and answered her phone across the room.

“Damon?” This one word, unbeknownst to y/n, caused every muscle in Elijah’s body to stand on end. Rebekah, of course, had flaunted the information of y/n’s and Damon’s past relationship in his face after y/n and Stefan had taken Damon home.

_“Rebekah, you can’t do this!” Elijah growled out as he followed her into the study, his jacket off and sleeves rolled up as he once again acted like his sibling's parent._

_“Oh yes I bloody well can!” Rebekah shrieked back._

_“It’s fine by me, brother,” Klaus smiled wickedly as he followed carelessly behind, “You just need to relax and let Rebekah take on her own problems.”_

_“Except this isn’t just Rebekah’s problem anymore is it? It’s all of ours!” Elijah was feeling a lot of rage and unfortunately, it was his siblings that were facing the backlash of this._

_“You know what, I did us all a favour by stringing that hideous man up!” Rebekah swung around, her perfect blonde locks flipping over her shoulder. She slowly walked right up to Elijah, a soft smirk growing on her lips. “Besides, you should be kissing my feet right now.”_

_“And why would I do that Rebekah?” Elijah asked, shoving his hands deep into his pockets._

_“Because I know for a fact that Damon fucked y/n.”_

_The bold statement had not only grabbed the attention of Elijah but also that of Klaus._

_“You mean to tell me that y/n has been with that man that consistently breaks girls hearts and uses them for his own means?” Klaus asked in a perfectly monotone voice._

_“Yup,” Rebekah popped the ‘p’ as she kept her eyes fully focused on Elijah, “So brother, next time feel free to have a few punches at Damon when he’s next strung up.”_

_“I’m not going to do that.” Elijah’s voice came out cold._

_“Why not?” It was Klaus who asked this._

_“Because it’s not my place,” Elijah responded calmly, but every muscle of his stood-on end._

_“Oh but come on Elijah,” Rebekah half laughed, “Surely you’re not that moral…surely it must bother you to think of your y/n, your sweet and innocent y/n with Damon between her legs.”_

In reality, it did bother Elijah, he had spent a better part of that night thinking of all the times he had been with y/n. Remembering exactly how she had looked when moonlight spilt onto her features, remembering their first and their last and every time in between.

But the thing about Elijah is that his respect for her came above all else. Elijah knew that it just wasn’t fair for him to get angry at you or Damon for being together, especially not y/n, not when he knew that she didn’t know about him – not that that should make a difference. The reality is Elijah has been with other women since y/n, and he remembered everything about y/n when he had.

“I have to go.” The warm hum of y/n’s voice snapped Elijah back into the room and he immediately pushed a smile onto his face before following her down the stairs, “Thank you for having me over and um, thank you,” Y/n turned around just as she reached the door and placed her hand on his upper arm without thinking. “Thank you for telling me about…” She trailed off, Elijah simply nodded, his hands in his pockets as he tried to ignore how every hair on his body stood on end from her touch.

Elijah wished he could have just accepted the moment, but unfortunately, at the time he still had the image of y/n and Damon in his head.

“Are you sure you aren’t going to take this opportunity to stake me?” Elijah meant to say it as a joke, but somehow his tone of voice remained flat and seeing her entire body go rigid, he instantly regretted it. Y/n froze with her hand on the door handle, something about that question and the tone of Elijah’s voice made it feel as though he had just stabbed her with one himself.

“Don’t…do that,” Y/n said, turning around from the door.

“Do what?”

“Act like I would even...I mean, I understand that we’re on opposing sides in whatever the hell kind of war this is but, I mean…”

“What?” Elijah asked, his voice quiet.

“I don’t know how to tell you that…I would _never_ hurt you.”

“And why,” Elijah took a step closer, his voice softly broken, his hatred for himself so evident in this moment as he asked, “Would you do that?”

Y/n searched around her head for an answer, something easy and simple but of course, none came to mind. Being so close to Elijah at that moment, literally feeling the warmth of his skin on hers, felt as though someone was pouring truth serum into her. And it all came flooding out.

“You know, you could compel me to forget every conversation we ever had, you could compel me to never remember 50 years of my life, 50 years that you were a part of. You could cut off all connections with me and move across to the other side of the world…but I will _always_ have one connection with you no matter what.” Elijah stayed still, so still that it seemed no air was passing between his lips.

“Because you can never compel me to forget how I _feel_ about you. It’s just not possible. Because even without those memories, without knowing what happened to me, the way I _feel_ when I look at you…the way my chest _feels_ when you walk into the room…

“I loved you Elijah.” The words hung in the air, “And, even though it sounds crazy, there’s a part of me that still does. Ever since I saw you at the ball, I feel…” Elijah took a step closer, the click of his shoe on the polish wood snapped something within y/n, “But you must know, you _have_ to know that I’m not the girl you fell in love with.” She was reminding herself more than anyone, “The girl you fell in love with died the day you took away her memories.”

A long, heavy pause.

“So, I’m going to go home and tomorrow I’m going to go help Caroline with the 1920s school dance thing and I’m going to do what I’ve always done and live my life one day at a time,” Y/n said, already out of the house, “Because that’s all I can do.” She felt her voice break in her throat, “That’s _all_ I can do.”

And with that, y/n walked down the pale front steps of the vast home, feeling Elijah’s dark eyes grip onto her every movement. And as she pulled her collar up against her cheeks and felt her hair bounce with every step, y/n’s vision began to blur.

* * *

Soon she reached the thick wooden door of the Salvatore’s and walking in she already had a glass of golden whiskey in her shaky hands. She could already hear that there was no one else inside the house, and that, she was thankful for.

She didn’t want Damon to see her as she slowly sunk onto the slippery wood, resting her head weakly against the back of the couch. Stefan didn’t have to see as her body clenched into one big knot that every swelling sob pulled tighter. Elena shouldn’t have to walk in on the image of her ruined makeup and spilt liquor.

Y/n didn’t know why she was crying, but she knew that if she hadn’t let it out soon she might have just reached for that small switch in the back of her head, her humanity. Because the reality is, she didn’t know if she was strong enough to face what was literally one step in front of her, but now that it was so close, it was scarier than ever.

She knew that she would also soon find out about her family. How they died. How her human life was taken from her. She would soon find out about her love for Elijah. How it was born, and how it needed to be erased.

The way Elijah had whispered soft words about their first time, the imagery of a world that blurred around their bodies and them being the only things that felt real. The more he talked about it, the more it felt less like a story and more like a memory. She could practically feel Elijah’s heartbeat as her hands rested against his bare chest, the way the grass prickled into her skin, the sound of a river that she lived near to, rushing and swelling around them. It felt so real.

There he was again, popping up in her mind just when she was trying to think of something, anything else. The reality is, it wasn’t just love she felt when she looked at Elijah. It was pain. It was heartbreak. It was anger.

But recently, over the past few days, she had been avoiding thinking of Elijah for a reason completely and entirely unexpected. When she thought of Elijah she could only think of one question.

Could he love her for the person she was now?


	9. Chapter Nine

It was early in the morning when y/n got a phone call from Jeremy Gilbert telling her that he was taking Elena into hospital after she collapsed the previous night, and it was mere minutes later when Damon called her telling her to get Elena the hell out of there.

“She can’t be in a hospital, there’s _way_ too easy access to her. She needs to be at home where no creepy monsters with big teeth can even get past the door without her permission.”

“Yeah, Damon, I heard you the first 10 times,” Y/n sighed into the phone. It had been a full five minutes of y/n getting a complete earful from Damon down the phone as she slowly made her way over to the Gilbert’s house where Elena would soon be safe and sound.

“Well y/n, I have to make sure that you of all people are aware of how serious her protection needs to be taken whilst Stefan and I aren’t in town.” Yeah, they weren’t. They were currently driving further and further away from Mystic Falls with a casket in the back of their car with Klaus’s body inside it.

“Damon, it’s me that’s looking after her. Nothing’s going to get past me and if it does,” Y/n heard a sharp intake of breath on the other side of the line as she walked up the steps to the Gilbert house, “ _If_ it does. You can hold me personally responsible.”

“Oh, believe me, I will,” Damon’s voice said half-playfully half-murderous.

“Nothing’s going to happen!” Y/n chirped out for what felt like the hundredth time as she walked into the scene of Elena being molly-coddled on the couch by Caroline. _Damon?_ Caroline mouthed, y/n could simply roll her eyes and nod in response.

“And do I have your word that no handsome, suit-wearing original is going to get in the way of her safety?” Y/n paused after hearing this before cocking her head and smiling broadly.

“You think Elijah’s handsome?” Y/n said coyly. Damon didn’t respond for long enough that y/n had to check that he hadn’t hung up on her, “Look, Damon, I’ll protect her, even if it costs me my life, okay? Now I gotta go, I can’t protect Elena if I spend all my time listening to you _tell me_ I need to _protect Elena_.” Y/n could hear Damon inhale as he was about to say something else, so y/n quickly slammed her finger on the red button and collapsed on the couch next to the poor overprotected girl.

“Sounds like Damon wants you to protect me,” Elena mumbled warmly, y/n chuckled.

“You think?” She rolled over slightly, so she was facing her. “But protecting you is fun, it’s just like hanging out if you forget the constant fear of death.” Elena chuckled at this.

“Can I make you anything?” Caroline called cheerily from the kitchen.

“I’m okay,” Y/n smiled back.

“You sure,” Caroline grinned, “Tea? Coffee? Or do you prefer something with a little more handsome, suit-wearing original in it,” A soft giggle echoed throughout the room.

“Have you talked to him since…” Elena trailed off.

“Since he told me about my first time? Nope.”

“You know,” Caroline said, walking over a mug in her hand and sitting on the coffee table in front of them, “I think it was his first time too. I mean, why else would he be so hung up on it?”

“I don’t think he’s hung up on it,” Y/n pondered.

“Maybe not,” Caroline continued, “But he remembers it really well from what you described, and everyone remembers their first time a little clearer than the rest. I know I do.”

“Me too,” Elena piped up.

“Can’t relate,” Y/n sighed. It seemed that over the past few days she could think of only one thing, and that was the supposed story of her first time on the river bank. Or in simpler terms, she couldn’t stop thinking about having sex with Elijah.

“I’m so jealous,” Caroline sighed after a moment, crossing her legs, “Your first time sounds amazing. My first time was at my very first high school party and it was with a guy that turned out to be gay.”

“To each their own,” Y/n softly smiled, “It’s crazy though. Ever since he told me about it, I feel like it’s not a story…you know…I _remember_ it, I _feel_ it.”

“Really?” Elena asked, sipping her tea and vodka.

“Yeah,” Y/n nodded, “The more Elijah talks about my past, the more it feels like a part of me,”

“You’re remembering?” Caroline said looking genuinely interested, “Well, go on, tell us what it was like,”

“Huh?”

“If you can remember it, and feel it, spill the beans on what it’s like to have sex with Elijah. I’m sure we’d _all_ like to know,” Caroline tucked her knees up to her chest and suddenly y/n felt as though she was at a girly sleepover.

“If you’re struggling for words do what we do,” Elena hummed, “Use three adjectives.”

“Yeah so, my first time with Richard was sweaty, gross and short,” Caroline encouraged.

“Well…” Y/n hummed, allowing herself to divulge back in the memory of Elijah and the river bank. It was so strong now that she could practically feel the sparks shock her skin as she ran her fingertips across his bare back, “Electric.” The grass that dug into her back, the gushing of the nearby water, the wind in her hair, “Raw.” The swell in her chest as she looked up and saw Elijah looking back down on her. Elijah, with his dark eyes and strong jaw, the only man in the past 5 centuries that could make y/n’s legs genuinely buckle underneath her with only a look. “Comfortable.”

“Wow,” Caroline hummed happily after a moment, “That’s sounds…” A silence settled across the three girls as they each disappeared into their own minds.

“Yeah,” Y/n whispered, “It does.”

* * *

The whole day had passed without one hiccup. The three girls had watched movies, Caroline had filled everyone in on the latest gossip and they had even gone so far as to attempt at cooking their own dinner.

“Woah, I don’t know much about cooking, but I don’t think any food is supposed to smell like that.” A familiar voice called from the front door.

“Stefan?” Elena was the first to recognise his voice and soon she was giving him a tight embrace as he came into the kitchen.

“Ah Stefan,” Y/n smiled, “Does, you, being here mean that Damon is going to get off my case?” Y/n, of course, was referring to the several phone calls she had battled out with Damon over the course of the day.

“Aww, I wish it did,” Stefan softly smiled, “But it just means that he’s on _my_ back as well.”

“Oh yay,” Y/n smiled before going back to trying to salvage the massacre that was her fruit salad. That’s when the doorbell went off leaving Elena to call out that she’d get it, all assuming that it would be Jeremy.

“You’re late-” Y/n heard Elena say as she opened the door, but her voice was cut short. Y/n instantly flicked her eyes up to Stefan’s and Caroline’s, the three vampires on high alert, two with quite large silver knives in their hands. Y/n waited for Elena to say something else, to call out Stefan’s name but instead.

“Y/n!” Elena’s voice came. This surprise knocked y/n slightly off balance for a moment, but she quickly recovered and slowly made her way around the kitchen counter to peer down the hallway. And there, looking right back at her from the front door, was a handsome, suit-wearing original vampire that could just about make her knees buckle.

* * *

“But why would you want to help us? I mean can we even trust you?” Matt asked, “You’ve done nothing but screw Elena over every time,”

“And for that I am deeply sorry,” Elijah murmured from where he sat at the head of the table, y/n sitting just around the corner to his left, “But if I wanted Elena dead I could have done it as soon as I walked through the door.” Everyone in the room seemed to glance around at one another but y/n kept her eyes firmly focused on Elena, “So what do you say Elena, will you help me and get me my brother’s body?”

“No!” Came Damon from the phone in the centre of the table before he dissolved into a minor rant about all the times the originals have screwed us over.

“Y/n,” Elena said after Damon finished, looking straight at her across the table, “You’re the person here who has the most connections with the original family,” Elena paused and y/n felt her entire body get a little heated, “Do you think we can trust him?”

All eyes in the room flickered from Elena to y/n and then from y/n to Elijah who was currently eyeing y/n tentatively but with much interest. Y/n sighed deeply, she knew the answer she wanted to say but whatever she did say was going to determine the safety of those around her, her friends, her family. Slowly, y/n brought her eyes up to meet Elijah’s.

This was the first time they had even been in the same room together since they had talked at his place and it was safe to say that there was a new feeling around them. A new electricity in the air that was so evident whenever they so much as looked at one another.

“I don’t think Elijah _wants_ to hurt anyone in this room,” Y/n voice was soft and her eyes unwavering, “However, in the past, he has shown that he’ll put his family before anyone, _including_ everyone in this room. But right now, we are all the key to getting his brother back.”

“So, what are you saying?” Elena asked. Y/n still didn’t break eye contact.

“I’m saying that I think you can trust him. But I am also telling him,” Y/n shuffled slightly so that she could lean closer to Elijah, “It would be a foolish thing to do if he broke our trust once more.” The electricity snapped in the air between them.

“Oh, just kiss already,” Caroline softly squeaked from between her hands, her eyes fluttering back and forth between the two before she realised with a jolt what she just said, “Oh my God, I am so sorry,” Caroline quickly recovered, burying her face in her hands. The room now had an awkward kind of feel to it, but y/n was also even more aware of Elijah and the small smirk that played at his lips after hearing this.

“So anyway,” Stefan immediately diverted the conversation away, “Elijah you tell Rebekah to call Damon and head over to where he’s keeping Klaus’s body. Jeremy, Elijah and y/n grab some stuff together and meet in the woods in 5 to talk about how we’re going to deal with Alaric.”

* * *

And that’s how y/n found herself playing catch with a small stone with Jeremy whilst Stefan answered his phone.

“Shouldn’t Elijah be here by now?” Jeremy asked, throwing the stone over.

“I’m trying to not ask too many questions with that man,” Y/n passed the stone back, “You just end up getting more confused than you started.” Jeremy softly chuckled and they fell into silence. Peering over at Stefan, y/n noticed how disturbed he looked as he turned around. Whatever Damon had to say, it couldn’t be good.

“What’s wrong?” Y/n cocked her head.

“Klaus is dead.” The sentence felt like someone had stopped time. It was such a simple sentence but the weight of it pulled a knot in just about everyone’s guts.

“What?” Y/n gasped. She had never gotten around to properly talking with Klaus, never addressing the way she had felt when they had first bumped into each other at the ball. She had always been too busy with Elijah, “Oh my God, Elijah,” Y/n whispered under her breath.

“What’s the plan now?” Jeremy asked, not hearing y/n’s rapid and spiralling thoughts.

“Well,” Stefan sighed, “Protecting Elena is the main priority. She’ll be who anyone comes after right now,”

“Slight problem with that,” Jeremy said softly, his brows furrowed as an apologetic looked pulled at his face. Y/n slowly turned around to the young Gilbert, _what the hel_ l, “See, Elena isn’t in the house anymore. Matt and I have a plan.”

It was just then that y/n felt a strong presence behind her, a presence of a person that she now didn’t even need to check to know she was right. Turning around, her eyes met those of Elijah’s worried ones as he glanced between the three of them.

“What happened?”

* * *

 

Y/n found herself sitting at the stump of some old spiny tree her head still spinning after the emotional whirlwind she had just witnessed. Watching Caroline realise Tyler was going to die, hearing from Stefan that he, Damon, Caroline and Katherine were all thought to come from Klaus’s line meaning they might die as well. Watching as Elijah walked away from her, searching for his sister, nothing but pure pain in his eyes. That’s why it was a shock to find him standing there above her in an instant.

“Elijah,” Y/n muttered, slowly standing to meet his pained look, “Are you okay?” It felt like it was all she could say. She knew how much Elijah valued his family above all else, it had been something she had feared only a few hours ago. But now seeing how Elijah looked, as though he was biting back his pain, she found herself thinking that it would be a privilege to be a person who treasured family so much.

“I’m…fine,” He choked out after a moment, “I wanted to talk to you though.” Y/n felt strangely honoured at this.

“Yes, of course, what do you want to talk about?” She took a small step closer to him.

“I came here to make an offer,” Y/n cocked her head, “I…I was wondering if you wanted to leave town with me?” The offer was so out of the ordinary, so unexpected that y/n was pretty sure her jaw dropped ever so slightly, “It’s just,” He began again before she could talk, “I want to take you back to your hometown. I want to tell you everything, and I mean _everything_. The good, the bad, and everything in between. Also, my brother being dead means that I am your best source,”

“Why?” Y/n softly hummed, her eyes flickering all across his face.

“Because now, no one can compel you to simply remember those 50 years, because it wouldn’t work unless it was him compelling you, because Niklaus was the one who made you forget in the first place.” Y/n was already feeling so many emotions by this point, being so close to Elijah felt like she was about to explode. “So I want to take you back, I want to follow the journey we made so long ago,” Elijah was whispering now, reaching out his hand and gently cupping her jaw, “I want to remember it with you. I want…” He brought his other hand to her face and pulled himself closer to her, close enough that their bodies touched through the material of their clothes. Y/n could feel every muscle in his body tighten with a fury. “I just want to know if there ever could be another time where I can see what you look like beside a river bed.”

Y/n felt her breath hitch in her throat. There it was, the message she had been craving to hear ever since she had met this man. The message that there was a possibility that he could love her again, that he _wanted_ to love her again. If he even ever stopped in the first place.

“I think,” Y/n breathed. His lips were so close, merely centimetres away. Every muscle, every bone, every nerve in her body at that moment screamed at her to kiss him. It came to a point where she desired it so bad, she could swear she already felt the pressure of his lips on hers, “I think…I _hope_ , that we want the exact, same, thing.”

And he didn’t have time to respond because all he could do at that moment was kiss her. The electricity sparked to a climax, strings of fiery goodness zipping up and down both of their bodies causing every hair to stand on end as Elijah gently pushed her up against a tree. But all she could feel was his body against hers, his hair brushing her fingertips, his lips on hers. She could feel his hands, oddly delicate as his fingertips brushed the bare skin of her hip where her jeans and top didn’t quite meet, sending shivers like magic through her body. His hands juxtaposed the kiss, the raw and desperate kiss that they both seemed to indulge in.

And then he pulled away and he rested her forehead on hers. But it wasn’t such a sad moment because y/n could still feel Elijah’s entire body as they breathed heavily. She could still feel his heart drumming against her chest, the arch that still curled in her back, the soft tingle on her lips as electricity still snapped there.

“Come,” Elijah’s husky voice gently growled out, “I have a car not too far from here,” He looked softly into her eyes, his hands once more cupping her face, “Let’s get out of this town.” And she didn’t have time to respond, because his fingers laced with hers and he gently pulled her away.

* * *

 

They were in the car before she could even consider his offer. Driving on a winding road surrounded by thick trees that were only lit by silver moonlight. It was magical.

Electricity still zipped up and down her body and it genuinely seemed crazy that she could even sit in the same car as Elijah, be so close to him, breathe the same air as him, and not touch him. All she wanted to do was tell him to stop the car and crawl into his lap, to connect their lips one more together, to just feel him right there, underneath her fingertips. She honestly had no idea how she was keeping herself together.

Elijah had his jaw tightly clenched and his hands gripped onto the steering wheel, but every so often he’d glance over at the girl sitting next to him and wonder if she knew how much he wanted to do the same thing. And he would have, hell he would have continued what they started in the forest he was so desperate to be with her, but he needed to get y/n out of town.

See, Elijah had been thinking about asking this of y/n for some time, but it was only when Rebekah told him her plan 5 minutes ago that he was forced to come to terms with it. Because if he didn’t, and he didn’t take y/n out of town and far enough away that she couldn’t intervene with the mess he was leaving behind. He might just loose her for good.

That’s when he thought of Rebekah’s plan again and he found himself pushing the speed up a little further. He hated that it was so good, he hated that it took away all their problems and he hated that if he didn’t go along with it, his family would be in more danger than ever. But most of all, he hated himself. And he knew that soon, y/n would too.

“Elijah don’t you think you’re going a little fast,” Y/n had playfully said peering out the window as the trees blurred into one. Y/n knew reckless driving when she saw it, she was best friends with Damon after all. “Elijah you need to slow down,” Curves in the road quickly appeared and y/n could feel the weight of the car be thrown from side to side. If he didn’t slow down soon they could tip over. “Elijah stop-”

“No.” Elijah gently whispered, already feeling the guilt wrack his body.

“Elijah, you’re emotional right now!” Y/n was leaning over the gear stick, trying to grab his attention.

“No, I just need…” _to protect you. To keep you safe from this mess, my mess._

“Elijah, your brother just died, why don’t you let me-”

“Yeah, my brother’s dead.” Elijah whispered, his bottom lip trembling ever so slightly as he tried to keep it together, “Klaus is dead, y/n.” His voice cracked in his throat, and his eyes flicked back and forth across the road, “Klaus…” Suddenly, in an instant, Elijah’s restrained pain turned into a calmness, a realisation. And then all his emotion burst forth, “Oh God. No, no, no!” With every word he slammed his hand against the wheel until it dented inwards.

“Elijah” Y/n called out before finding herself hurtling forwards towards the dashboard as Elijah speedily braked, “Elijah, what’s wrong?” She asked when she had regained her balance, quickly undoing her seat belt and shuffling over closer to him, “Elijah look at me,” Gently, she brushed her fingers against his jaw until she was cupping his face in both hands. “What’s wrong?” She asked for the final time, her voice matching the eerie calmness of the scene, the world at rest around them.

Elijah’s jaw turned to stone as his eyes slowly made their way to hers. He looked at her with nothing but pain and anger and restraint, emotions he had gotten to know far too well over the past 900 years. Slowly, a tear brimmed over the edge of his glassy eyes and trickled down his stony cheek.

“Klaus turned you.”

It took her a full moment before that statement settled in. Before Elijah’s message became clear. But then the pieces fell together, and she realised that if Klaus was the one that turned her, then she too would soon die. Not only that, but possibly all her friends, all her friends who were so far behind her right now. Her friends who she had left without a really thinking about it.

Her hands hovered in the air for a moment as she pulled away from him, feeling her heart pound in her ears like never before. _I’m dying_. It was all she could think; those three dreaded words being whispered in her ears over and over and again. _I’m dying, I’m dying, I’m dying._

Suddenly she was so much more aware of her body, so much more aware of how it felt to have blood rushing around her system and to feel the thud of her heartbeat echo through her bones.

The two sat in silence for at least 5 minutes, everything they had to say already crossing the other’s mind. After so long of living, y/n really hated that _this_ was the way that she was going to go. And then she felt a buzzing in her coat jacket and a small tinkle of chime bells filled the car.

“Hello?” Y/n mumbled numbly as she got out of the car, feeling the cold air pierce right into her lungs.

“Y/n, oh thank God!” Y/n heard Damon’s desperate voice gasp from down the phone.

“Damon? What’s wrong?” Y/n asked, as she asked this she could numbly feel the tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Y/n, it’s Elena, well it’s Rick he…he um, he just started dying in my arms and I know that, that can only mean-”

“Wait, wait, wait, Damon slow down,” Just as she said this she heard the door slam on Elijah’s side of the car and she felt the sudden realisation of what Damon was trying to say.

“Y/n, I think…I think Elena’s dead. I don’t know so I called Stefan, I called everyone y/n but none of them would pick up and you’re the first to pick up and-”

“Damon,” Y/n turned around to face Elijah whose face was now set in stone, she glared at him right in the eyes as she spoke, “Damon I don’t know what happened to Elena but trust me, I _will_ find out and I _will_ call you as soon as I know something, okay? But for now, I just need you to come back home, okay Damon?”

“Okay, yeah, okay,” Y/n heard as Damon’s voice progressively turned into stone into anger, “Yeah, I’ll see you soon y/n.”

“Bye.” Y/n quickly said to Damon before ending the phone call, all whilst never breaking eye contact with the man standing in front of her. The pieces simply fell together too well. Elijah coming to her so soon after his brother’s death, desperate to get out of town. Even if they did get out of town, Elijah was leaving his sister with the problem of Alaric and she knew how much he valued family.

“Y/n-” Elijah took a step towards her, his hand slightly outreached but mirroring his image, y/n took one back. There was a high pitch ringing in her ears as she thought of Elijah kissing her. Had that been part of the plan?

“What did you do?” She said, her voice flat and emotionless.

“Y/n-” He tried again but she wasn’t having any of it.

“ _What_ , did you _do_ Elijah!” The anger came bursting out. Silence fell for a full minute.

“I had to do it y/n.” Elijah’s raw voice was quiet, but it matched her same anger, “I had to make _this_ sacrifice to protect _my_ family because if you haven’t noticed, one more of my brothers is _dead_!” Elijah’s voice was quickly crumbling, “I owe it to the rest of my family to protect them from your friends!”

“Oh no, no way in hell,” Y/n was shaking her head, an odd angry laugh being choked out of her throat, “You are not getting out of this with the whole ‘my family, your family’ bullshit! You knew Elena! She was your friend!” Elijah could barely stand the amount of anger y/n was looking at him with right now. “You know what, I’m going back, I can’t I just can’t deal with this-”

“Y/n you shouldn’t go, you’re dying-”

“ _So_!” Y/n found herself almost hysterically screaming at him, “So I’m just supposed to sit here and feeling fucking _sorry_ for myself whilst my friends, who I just fucking abandoned, are out there dying?” Elijah found himself biting hard on his bottom lip, he didn’t know what to say, he didn’t know what to do to make things better.

“I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant,” He choked out after a minute. Y/n couldn’t even look at him, she was scared what she might do, what she might say if she did.

“I don’t really care what you mean right now Elijah.” She said turning around and beginning to walk down the road they just came from.

“Y/n, what are you-” Elijah began, but he already knew that any plea would be a futile quest.

“Elijah just…” Y/n sighed heavily, turning around but not meeting his eyes, “Just, do yourself a favour…and _let me go_.”

And with that, she turned around and sprinted faster than she ever had done before, back to Mystic Falls, back towards her friends.


	10. Chapter Ten

The night was long. The night was painful.

Running back to Mystic Falls, y/n found herself crossing over the Wikery Bridge where a familiar face leant over a familiar body. It didn’t take long to figure out what could have possibly happened by the sight of their dripping clothes and slight froth of the water below.

Soon, y/n had forced Stefan to take Elena straight to the hospital whilst she took a perfectly alive but perfectly heartbroken Matt home. He couldn’t be alone right now and to be honest, neither could she.

“Do you want me to stay?” Y/n’s half-heartedly smiled as she and Matt reached his door. Slowly the stony outside that Matt had spent the entire journey home putting up crumbled around him. Turning around from his door to look at y/n, she could see how tears dribbled down his crumpled features.

“ _Please_ ,” He gasped through his sobs for a moment before pushing the door open and stumbling into the darkness within.

So, y/n followed him in. She made him some tea with a little something in to ensure that he slept well. She sat with him on his thread bear couch and tried distracting him with whatever she could think of before he fell asleep.

“Elena’s going to be fine Matt,” Y/n whispered as she reached out and curled her fingers around his wrist.

“How…” He sighed again, his breath shaking in his lungs, “How do you know?”

“Because Stefan just texted me and Elena…” will be a vampire, “Will be _just_ fine.”

“She’s not dead?” Matt's eyes were pierced with hope as he sat a little straighter and listened a little closer.

“No Matt,” Y/n covered up the lump in her throat, “She’s not dead.” But she was. Less than 30 minutes ago, she was, “But…we should still learn from this.”

“Learn what?” Matt muttered as he relaxed into the couch, the news of Elena’s safety finally allowing him to rest.

“Well, eyes on the road could be a lesson,” A soft smile pulled at Matt’s lips as his eyelids fluttered shut, “But…we need to be better, we need to look out for each other.” Matt’s breathing grew heavy, “ _I_ need to do better.”

* * *

“Tell me y/n. Where were you when Elena and Matt ran off the road?” Damon’s piercing eyes dug right into hers as she felt a chill spread across her back. It was the next morning and Damon currently had y/n corned into the wall with Stefan looking on with sad eyes. Y/n knew her sin from the previous night, she hadn’t slept at all knowing it. But now it seemed that Damon not only had guessed it to be true but had felt obliged to attack her for it.

“Damon stop-” Stefan tried to intervene.

“No, _Stefan_.” Damon cut him off without even looking at him, “Come on y/n, it’s a simple question, where were you?” Y/n felt something like a hard-walnut stick in her throat, the truth was inescapable, “Were you tracking down Elena and Matt? Were you keeping eyes on Elijah and Rebekah? Were you planning with Stefan your next move?” Damon’s voice sounded slightly condescending, as if he already knew the answer, “Because I’ve asked just about everybody and _no one_ seems to know where _you_ were when Elena died.” Slowly, y/n lifted her eyes up to his, feeling her guilt and anger squeeze on her heart.

“I was with Elijah.” She finally whispered. She watched as Damon gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, and at that moment, y/n wanted him to go for her. She wanted Damon to hit her and she wanted to take it.

“You were with _Elijah_.” Damon’s voice sounded painfully restrained, almost like he was biting his tongue from saying anything else. Y/n didn’t even flinch as Damon’s fist came crashing down inches from her head, leaving the wood splintered and broken. And then, he was gone, zipping away and out the room leaving only the sound of the front door slamming behind him.

“Y/n…” Stefan murmured, taking a step closer to her.

“Don’t Stefan,” Y/n murmured softly a sad smile painted on her face as she tried putting on a brave face, “I mean…he’s right isn’t he. There’s so much I could have done to at least _try_ and protect Elena.”

“There’s stuff we all could have done. None of us expected Elijah and Rebekah to go after her.”

“But we should have considered it.” Y/n said gently before a realization dawned on her, “Oh my God, _I’m_ the one that told Elena she could trust them!” Her voice turned slightly hysterical as her eyes quickly welled up with tears.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Stefan murmured, bringing y/n into his chest and resting his chin on her shaking head, “Don’t do this to yourself, don’t blame yourself. If you’re going to blame anyone blame Rebekah. Blame Elijah.” Stefan hummed, softly stroking the back of her head with his thumb. Y/n pulled away as a sickening feeling swelled in her gut. She didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve pity.

“I’m not blaming myself for what happened to Elena.” Y/n said in a monotone voice, “But I am, and I should blame myself for not even _trying_ to protect her, for getting distracted with-” She could hardly say his name, “Because those are the only two things that Damon asked of me, that Damon trusted me with. And I literally couldn’t even fucking do that.” No emotion could be found in her voice. After a few deep shaky breaths, y/n walked over and grabbed her purse off the back of her door, slipped something into her coat pocket and headed downstairs.

“Where are you going?” Stefan called out tentatively.

“The Mikaelson’s, for a _chat_.”

* * *

Y/n walked into the Mikaelson family home without even knocking, her heels clicking pure and loud across the marble floors, a warning that she was here. Pausing and listening for a second y/n heard movement in the left-wing study, and by the sound of it, it came from someone wearing heels. _Rebekah_.

Walking over, y/n took her time, watching the floor with each step and slowly calming her breath back down from its frantic swelling. Her anger from the previous night was catching like fire across her body and she didn’t want to put it out. Soon she walked into the study where she saw her, the light streaming in from an open window and lighting her blonde locks into an ironic halo.

She began to watch as Rebekah moved a few of her things into a bag quite hurriedly, she must be leaving town. Rebekah didn’t notice her at first, but soon her muscles froze, her entire figure turning to ice as she slowly looked up to meet y/n’s eyes.

“Y/n,” Rebekah said tentatively, “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, you know,” Y/n hummed, clicking her way down a few steps and quickly getting up close to Rebekah, “Thought we could have a little chat.”

“Oh,” Rebekah murmured, resting one hand on her hip and the other on the table. “You came all this way for me?”

“Well, actually, I came looking for Klaus…but you’ll do.”

“I’ll _do_?”

“Yes. Because you are going to give him my message.”

“And give me one good reason why I’d do that,” Rebekah cocked her head slightly as a soft smile spread across her lips. Y/n paused for a moment, looking Rebekah up and down as she smirked. On any other day, y/n might’ve been able to control her anger. But it was the perfect combination of self-hatred and hatred for the Mikaelson’s that put her in quite a ruthless mood.

“Well, I _can_ think of one.”

In an instant y/n whipped out the white oak stake coated in metal from Rick’s ring and pierced it straight through the blonde’s hand, pinning her to the now blood-splattered wooden table. Rebekah let out a pained gasp as she glanced from the white oak stake back to y/n who simply smiled coyly, “Do I have your attention?” Rebekah paused before numbly nodding.

“I’m listening.”

“Good,” Y/n said, not removing the stake and not letting go of it either, “Tell your brother that the next time I see him, he is to compel me to remember that which he made me forget all those years ago.” Rebekah took shaky breaths, her eyes never leaving the wood that protruding from her hand.

“And if he doesn’t.” The sentence caused y/n to let out a soft laugh.

“Oh no…there is no _if_.” Y/n’s voice turned dark, “Klaus owes me a hell of a lot more than this.” Y/n took a step closer, “He should consider himself _lucky_ that this is _all_ I am asking of him.”

Rebekah glared at y/n through her golden locks of blonde. And just as she was about to open her mouth to respond, bullets smashed through the window. Slowly Rebekah began to slump forward, her skin turning into a pale grey hue. And, as she collapsed fully over, y/n could see the arrow like stake spearing her heart.

Jumping over the body and quickly tucking the white stake into the folds of her jacket, y/n peered out the window seeing nothing but the gardens below. Turning back around she bent over and ripped the stake out of Rebekah’s chest. She was no use if she was dead.

“There’s another one!” Y/n heard from the window behind her, but before she could even react she felt something dig its way through the back of her chest.

Sinking to her knees, y/n groaned deep and low as she felt the wood tear through her skin, snapping nerves and slashing tissue. She could already feel the vervain which the wood was coated in burn its way into her system, burying itself in her blood and hitting every muscle in her body. _Son of a bitch_ was all she could think before her vision blurred and eventually dissolved into darkness.

* * *

It was a dreamless sleep, but mind you, definitely not painless. Y/n felt her body slowly stir underneath her mind, feeling the screaming pain throb throughout her entire body but in particular, her lungs. It took y/n a thick and dry coughing fit before she felt as though she was used to the air. The air around her that clearly was contaminated by vervain.

“Oh God,” She groaned pulling herself to her knees by a wall of metal bars in front of her and looking around. Across from her lay Elena in a similar cage to hers looking awfully dreadful, and on her right, Stefan in a pretty much similar condition.

“You’re awake,” Stefan muttered, his eyelids heavy as he looked over at her.

“Where are we?”

“Don’t know,” Stefan sighed, “But I do know that whoever’s keeping us here, isn’t the biggest fan of vampires,” Y/n sighed deeply and felt something inside of her tear.

“Stefan, can you do me a favour?” Y/n gasped from the pain, realising just how weak her muscles felt beneath her, “Can you tell me if there’s anything sticking in my back, a stake perhaps?” Y/n used the bars to gently twist herself around so Stefan could see her back.

“Yup,” Stefan looked over softly, “You got a stake sticking just above your heart I’d say, definitely in the lungs.”

“Oh,” Y/n grimaced, “That’s why it feels as though my chest is being shredded with every breath.”

Trying not to breathe too deeply, y/n gently lowered herself onto the floor face down and began trying to swing her arms over to her back, so she could grab hold of the slick wood, but there was little success. She soon realised that the only way she could get the stakeout is if she broke her arm and bent it back. But she had already lost so much blood. That was evident from the dry red puddle that seemed to cover her cell floor.

“You’re going to need to break your arm if you want to get it out,” Stefan sighed, swinging his body over to the front of his cell.

“I got that,” Y/n groaned face down.

“So?” Stefan peered at her.

“I’m not… _strong_ enough right now.” Y/n admitted with a touch of bitterness, “If I break my arm I’ll probably just pass out and since I’ve already lost so much blood...”

“Y/n…” Stefan sat up a little straighter, “You need to get it out. If you don’t the wound won’t heal, your body will be drained of blood and you’ll die.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“No, y/n, you don’t. You’re a vampire, your mind might be asleep, but your body will continue trying to live even without blood in your veins. You’ll feel every vein in your body rub together like sandpaper, every muscle will burn, and every bone will shake.”

Y/n felt something quickly rise up in her throat and soon a coughing fit gripped her body. And with every echoing shake, y/n felt the wood scrape across her bones, even edge onto her heart. Rising her hand to her mouth when she coughed once more she pulled back to see a splatter of red across her greying skin and felt the dread sit like a small bag of rice in her gut, “Shit.”

* * *

Y/n remained on the floor. Watching with sad eyes as Elena and Stefan talked about how she had turned back to come for Stefan the day she’d died, feeling a new kind of ache in her chest as she was reminded of a certain original vampire and what their kiss had cost.

She knew the blood that remained in her body was running thin and that was becoming more and more evident from the way her head pounded and how there was a certain darkness creeping in around the corners of her vision.

She saw Elena from across her way, looking in no better condition than she was just without the small blood puddle. It was hard looking at her, knowing that she could have stopped this from happening, that Elena could’ve been in bed right now worrying about Stefan and nothing else. But when she would look back at this moment she would also be grateful, staring at Elena gave y/n a chance to really think about her choices and her priorities and it encouraged her to do the right thing.

Just then, a young man walked into the barn, a large gun in his arms and a string of wooden bullets along his belt. Peering into each cell he looked at Stefan, Rebekah, Elena and finally, y/n.

“Please,” Y/n’s voice was raspy and scratched likes rocks in her throat, “Help me,” She gasped, gripping onto the bars as she struggled to make it to her feet. The guard snapped towards her, already holding out his gun as if the world depended on it. “Please.” She choked again, “Take the stake out of my back.”

“And why would I do that?” He said, his voice trembling slightly but there was a determined look in his eyes.

“Because I’m dying.” Y/n gulped for fresh air before another coughing fit took over her body, leaving her to splutter blood across the metal bars.

“That’s a good thing.” The boy said, his gun still held out as he eyed the now quite large pool of blood.

“Then please,” Y/n slumped her body onto the bars, gripping onto them for dear life as everything below her waist turned to jelly, “Just do the decent thing,” Y/n refused to look anywhere else but into the boy’s soul, “And shoot me.”

This seemed to get attention from not only the boy but from the two and half-vampires in the room. The boy seemed to consider it for a moment, glancing down from y/n’s desperate eyes to the blood-stained floor before he decided.

“Okay,” He nodded, his voice unusually soft, “Dead is dead to me.” He lifted his gun up a little higher so that it was now facing the centre of her chest, mere centimetres away.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger y/n grabbed onto the end of the gun and pulled it upwards. The trigger went off blasting a bullet just above her right collarbone causing y/n to hiss loudly before gripping onto the back of his head and slamming it into the metal bars until y/n’s muscles genuinely gave up on her.

Crumpling onto the floor, y/n watched as the body of the boy slumped backwards allowing his trail of blood to flow directly towards Elena who was reaching out for a drink.

Gasping heavily, y/n dug her fingers into the bullet wound and began scraping around like someone might do when gutting a fruit, digging savagely until she felt the wooden bullet. Gritting her teeth and scrunching up her face, y/n tugged until the bullet gave and flung across the cell, clinking onto the floor. A gargled scream of pain tearing through her body.

Looking down, y/n watched with fading vision as blood poured in a veiny fashion down her chest and into her already blood-soaked shirt. It was the last thing she saw before her mind finally gave up on her and she faded into darkness.

* * *

Blood. Warm. Pumping. Blood.

It was the first thing she thought, smelt and even felt being pushed up against her lips. Without even thinking about it, y/n’s teeth tug into whatever raw and hot goodness was currently being presented to her.

“There you go,” A familiar voice hummed into her ear and suddenly she felt whoever it was, sitting next to her, curling his arm around her and letting her feed on his already open neck. Suddenly, y/n felt her eyes and slowly peeled them apart to reveal the sight of her bloody cell in front of her, the door opened and no one in it.

Stopping herself from drinking any more, y/n pulled back to find a familiar face sadly smiling back at her through her slightly blurred vision.

“Matt,” Y/n hummed happily pulling him into a soft hug, “Thank you,” She whispered into his ear before anything else could be said. It takes a lot to present your blood to a completely starved vampire.

“Hey, it’s okay,” He said hugging her gently before pulling back and getting to his feet, helping her up as well, “We need to look out for each other.” He smiled softly, “Remember.”

Y/n felt her heart warm slightly at the lovable jock. Looking around she saw that all the cages were bare, including Stefan’s and Elena’s meaning that they were out, and they were safe. If she listened hard enough, she could hear Elena and Damon nearby, arguing over her death. She was just about to leave when Matt stopped her with a question.

“Is that… _all_ your blood?” He murmured, unable to tear his eyes away from the red-stained cell.

“I guess so,” Y/n said, peering at the dead guard and how his blood only ran into Elena’s, “Looks like 5 or 6 pints, I must have been completely drained. That stake must have hit a major artery.” Y/n felt a shudder rock through her muscles and then noticed that there wasn’t a strong ache at the top of her spine anymore. “Who took the stakeout?” Y/n turned to Matt.

“Damon,” Matt responded, still not looking away from the cell, “He marched in here and ripped it right out…I think he was really messed up when he first saw you.”

“Huh?” Y/n asked, now looking at the cell as well.

“I think he thought you were dead…I mean, why wouldn’t he. There is _so much blood_ -”

“Let’s get out of here.” Y/n quickly murmured, grabbing onto Matt’s arm and pulling him away. Y/n still needed to drain a couple more blood bags to feel fully human again. Ironically.

* * *

 

“Y/n!” Elena’s voice called out from where she was arguing with Damon at the front of the car.

“Elena!” Y/n sighed back, watching as Elena ran over and quickly embraced her in a tight hug.

“Careful, I’m not…” Y/n began, already feeling her legs weak underneath her but when she pulled back and saw Elena’s face. Elena’s beautiful and living face, “Well, it doesn’t matter does it.”

“Y/n, I just want to thank you for…I mean the guy that…” Elena spluttered out.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Y/n smiled softly, “Don’t you dare thank me. Me killing that guy is a very _little_ payment for what happened to you.”

“Don’t…blame yourself,” Elena whispered, a sadness growing in her eyes.

“It’s not about that,” Y/n smiled sadly, “You never wanted this life, Elena. That fact alone means I’m going to be looking out for you for the next couple of centuries.” Y/n cocked her head, “I hope you don’t mind.” Elena smiled softly at her before moving past and embracing loyal and sweet Matt, leaving y/n face to face with Damon.

Looking up she peered into his steely eyes, feeling his enigmatic look pierce something a little deeper than her skin. And just when y/n was sure that he would make some noble speech about Karma or bring up the whole Elena and death situation, he pulled her into the tightest of embraces.

“Don’t you dare scare me like that again.” He softly growled into her ear, “I thought you were dead you idiot.” Y/n felt her lungs sigh heavily as she melted into Damon’s stone chest. How long had it been since they’d last hugged?

“Okay.” Y/n hummed happily, feeling the stress and the dread of being around Damon simply melt into the air, “Okay I won’t. I promise.” Damon pulled back only for a moment to search across her still greying face.

“Are you okay?” He asked, cupping her face gently, “Need me to go find you a nice snack before we go home.”

“No.” Y/n said with finality, “I’m fine. Really. I just need to get home and raid the blood freezer, okay?” Damon paused, looking at her features before gently rolling his eyes and turning around to the car.

“Okay. Let’s go home.”

* * *

It wasn’t long before y/n numbly felt the car once more tremor to a stop. Squeezing her eyes slightly y/n tried opening them and still only saw a swirling version of reality. _I need blood_. Pulling her head gently from the cool glass of the window, y/n felt a slight pressure on her arm before she heard Damon whisper in her ear.

“Don’t get out of the car till I tell you to.” And then his presence disappeared from beside her.

“Now’s really not a good time jack-ass.” Damon’s spat, his voice bitter and cold just outside the car.

“Please, Damon. I need to see her.” That voice, so familiar, so comforting.

“Yeah and she doesn’t need to see you.”

“I know I don’t deserve her time-”

“Don’t deserve her _time_? Are you fucking kidding me? You know how fucked she’s been this entire day because of what you did? You know how angry she is? Angry at you? At herself?”

“I understand,” The voice, it had once whispered sweet nothings in her ear a long time ago.

“Look…even though you’re my favourite original…there’s lines you don’t get to cross with me. For example, hurting Elena is one of them…and hurting y/n is the other.” A heavy breath from one of the two voices, “Now, you seem to have crossed both of them buddy but I’m going to let you on in a little secret.” Damon’s voice lowered, maybe he thought y/n couldn’t hear him in this state? “If you think you can _really_ make y/n happy, then I’m okay with you sticking around. Because over these past few days I’ve seen how happy you made her and that’s all I care about. But if you think you’ll just end up doing more damage than good…I suggest you leave before you find some white oak sticking out of your chest, got it?” A long silence.

“Got it.” His voice wasn’t broken or defeated. It was just monotone. It was just a voice.

Distantly y/n felt her door open and the strong arms of sweet Damon undo her seatbelt and gently pull her out of the car and against his stony chest, filling her with nothing but the scent of his leather jacket.

Trying to open her eyes once more, y/n found herself looking at a swimming image of the Salvatore mansion, the warm street light pooling like gold onto the silver road. And there, creating a tall shadow, was a familiar face.

He looked at her with a strange bewilderment, a question already on the tip of his tongue. And then it changed and suddenly he looked different, he looked dark. He looked angry.

“What the _hell_ happened?”


	11. Chapter Eleven

“What the _hell_ happened?”

“Okay, don’t get your protective boyfriend pants in a twist, she’ll be fine,” Damon mumbled as y/n slumped drearily into his side.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Y/n mumbled as the distorted image of Elijah swam around her eyes. But, of course, no one was listening to her.

“I’d still like to know.” Elijah’s spoke with finality and power, his arms itching by his sides to reach over and hold her, touch her even.

“There may or may not have been a small problem with a bunch of vampire-hating council members with a freaky priest leader. And y/n may or may not have been bled to death in a barn filled with vervained air, slap bang in the middle of nowhere. But don’t worry,” Damon was gently shuffling y/n’s unresponsive feet up the front steps, “She’s fine now.”

“She doesn’t look fine.” Elijah moved after Damon, taking in the image of y/n’s blood-soaked clothes and the veiny blood splatters across her skin. It hurt. It physically hurt him to see her like this. To know what agonising pain she must have been feeling less than a few hours ago when he had simply been sitting around at home.

“Well, we both know she’ll be right as rain once she’s downed a few blood bags, so why don’t you hit the road and just give her some space for tonight.” Damon had already opened the door and was gently pushing y/n inside, out of Elijah’s sight.

“Wait,” Elijah’s stopped the door from shutting in his face, looking at y/n and nowhere else, “Y/n…” He mumbled. Gently, she swung herself around, gripping onto the wooden door frame with white knuckles. “Just…tell me what you want.” Elijah murmured, completely forgetting that Damon was even in the same world as them.

“What I want?” Y/n hummed, her eyelids dropping with every second and her entire body weight pushed up against the wall, “I want to have a shower.” She finally coughed out after a few long moments, “I want to drink a couple blood bags and then I want to get out of these… _clothes_. I want to put on some fresh pyjamas and I want to go to bed.” Elijah’s hand slowly retracted from the door.

“But I want to see you tomorrow.”

It caught him off guard. The soft words that danced from her lips and seemed to almost pierce right into his heart like some kind of knife of hope. Suddenly, he found himself looking into her eyes and getting lost. He found the feeling of his chest swelling as every cell of his skin burned to touch her, to take her clothes off for her. Why was it so easy to feel this way around her?

“I’ll um…” Y/n mumbled, her eyelids fluttering further and further closed, “I’ll come around to your house first thing and we can…talk.”

“Okay.” His voice was warm and comforting almost lulling her to sleep right there and then. “Okay y/n,” She began turning away, gripping onto Damon’s arm tightly as she moved towards the basement, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Damon gently guided y/n in the direction of the hallway before he turned back to the door. The two men shared a look. A mutual understanding passing between them.

And then Elijah curtly nodded, and Damon shut the door.

* * *

After having at least 12 hours of nice long sleep, y/n finally emerged from her crisp clean sheets feeling like a new woman. She had spent the entire morning, or should I say afternoon, taking her time with getting ready.

She spent a near hour in the shower, feeling the hot water wear away knots in her muscles. Remembering how weird it had felt last night, to watch as the water ran from rich rouge to watery red to powder pink. Feeling the worry and stress of the entire day melt away down the drain with that bloodied water.

Then came breakfast: honey and toast, sweet tea, fresh fruit picked from the garden. All in all, it was a luxurious and well-deserved morning. And the knowledge that she would soon see Elijah, Elijah who had looked so hurt, so pained, so angry by the site of her bloodied clothes. Elijah who even Damon was now telling her to forgive. Just…Elijah.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon by the time y/n found herself walking into the Mikaelson’s oversized home. The warm winter sun tumbling through the patterned glass, painting shadows of flowers, cherubs and nude women onto the marble floor.

Reaching up, y/n began slowly twisting her heavy scarf from around her neck, watching with curious eyes as the nude women seemed to almost wink in the sunlight. The moment was so peaceful. It seemed only fitting that it would be Klaus who ruined it.

“Love!” Klaus’s voice called out, snapping her out of her trance and into a slightly defensive position. She always felt like that around him, “I didn’t know you would be joining us too.” Y/n furrowed her brows.

“I didn’t know there was something to join?” She took a tentative step towards him and then watched with surprise as Stefan emerged from around a corner, “Stefan?”

“Y/n,” Stefan could simply mumble back, the same air of question mirrored in his eyes.

“No, no, this is good!” Klaus called out in his usual way, walking straight over to her. “You of all people should be here to hear what I have to say. I mean after all…” Klaus cocked his head, the same lazily cocky smile drawn across his lips, “The vampire hunters, the tattoos, the key…it _did_ all start with you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that now love. All you need to do is come with me and Stefan, we’re going to have a little chat over dinner.” Klaus twisted around and grinned slightly sadistically at Stefan who appeared highly uncomfortable.

“Actually, not to disappoint…but I was here to meet another Mikaelson.” Y/n hummed, already moving past Klaus. Whatever he had to say, it could wait the five minutes she needed just to see his face.

“I hope you don’t mean me.” Rebekah’s elevated voice sung through the stone hallway, her heels accompanying the noise. “I’ve had enough of your surprise visits for one week.” She stopped by a stray wooden table at the base of the stairs, re-positioning the flowers so the more pinkish ones sat at the front. Y/n opened her mouth to respond but Klaus got there first.

“Oh yes of course!” He cheerily called out, his hands clapping together, “Rebekah told me all about your little threat.” He hummed, his hands folding behind his back as he gave her an infuriating smile. Y/n took a deep, shaky breath.

“Do you _really_ think that you are in _any_ position to be cruel to me right now?” Her voice was quiet and calm, a complete change from Klaus’s overzealous one. A silence settled for a moment as his features fell.

“Maybe not.” He hummed, “I understand you were here to see Elijah…” Y/n remained guarded despite how soft his voice seemed to get, “But I would be honoured if you would accompany me to dinner, here…tonight.” He outstretched his hand slightly as if he was literally offering her this opportunity. Eyeing it with wariness, y/n took a delicate step forward, her features turning vulnerable.

“I need your word Niklaus.” She may have been quiet, but she was strong, “I need you to _promise_ _me_ , that by the end of tonight, I _will_ have my memories back. Each…and every last one of them.” Klaus didn’t move. His eyes flickered over her facial features delicately before he grew tall and let his hand fall to his side. Leaning in he slowly tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, his fingers skating across her skin in a way that caused goose bumps to ripple across her body. For a moment, the thought that he might actually kiss her crossed her mind, but then his lips brushed along her cheek as he whispered into her ear.

“I promise you, y/n, that you will have your memories by the end of tonight.”

* * *

The dinner was painful. Sitting across from Stefan and picking at her food every now and then, y/n had to listen to the constant bickering between Rebekah and Klaus as they dissolved into some meaningless argument about a meaningless subject.

“Can we just… _please_ get to the point.” Stefan groaned into the palms of his hands at some desperate point. Y/n at that moment had been swirling the rouge wine around in her glass, seeing how far she could get it to reach the top without spilling over.

“Ahh yes.” Klaus leant back, throwing his napkin onto his half-finished meal, “The very reason why we’re all here.” His eyes flickered deviously around the table until they came to rest back on Stefan. “We’re here to discuss a certain vampire hunter that I have chained up and the certain tattoos that adorn his arm.”

“Oh, skip the theatrics Nik.” Rebekah hissed into her wine glass.

“Very well.” Klaus nodded curtly, “The first time I saw the vampire hunter tattoo was back in the 12th century, in y/h/t.” Y/n could already feel Klaus’s eyes on her as she glared directly at her untouched meal, “They were on the arm of a certain man named Alexander. Well known in his village to bring about vampires he had caught and burned them in broad daylight for everyone to see.

“Well, of course, this put me and my family on edge slightly, but we had a way of ensuring that he would never get to figure out what we were. A spy on the inside I believe they call it.”

“Who?” Stefan interrupted, his curiosity getting the better of him. Klaus’s eyes flicked up to Rebekah who sat uncomfortably across from him.

“Why Rebekah of course. But the thing is, she really ended up falling in love with the man.” Klaus looked pitifully down, a playful smirk pulling at his lips, “Me and the rest of my family, of course, needed even more reassurance than our liability of a sister…so I decided to go after a family member of the hunter. The only one that was still around, that is.”

“Who?” Stefan asked again, leaning back in his chair as he divulged into the story.

“A sweet little flower girl who went by the name of y/n. Or in other words…”

“Me.” Y/n was glaring at Klaus now. He was enjoying this.

“Yes…you.” Klaus smiled darkly.

“So, wait,” Stefan, leant his elbows onto the table as his eyebrows knitted together ever so slightly, “That’s how you two know each other. Klaus was using you to get information on your brother.”

“Oh no, _I_ wasn’t using you…but Elijah was.” It was as if Klaus had reached over and slapped her in the face. The audacity of him toying with this information, the information that made y/n feel as though she had been missing a piece of herself her entire life – and he was playing a game. She wanted to hold him up against a wall by the throat, feel the blood under his skin begin pumping faster as the air became restricted. Wanted to watch as his skin flushed, and his eyes bulged as he hissed at her everything she needed to know. That’s the thing about being a vampire – intrusive violent thoughts were all too natural.

“Elijah wasn’t using her Nik.” Rebekah said softly after a moment, her eyes staying on the grinning form of Klaus, “Don’t be cruel.”

“Oh, yes…of course!” Klaus leant back, “He wasn’t using her. Turns out all my siblings are as unreliable as my little sister.

“I told Elijah of the flower girl by the name of y/n. Told him to check her out, watch her for a few days and then tell me if she was a possible lead. Turns out in those few days Elijah had somehow convinced himself that y/n here was too sweet and kind to be dragged into this mess, that she was to be left alone on his orders.”

“Let me guess,” Stefan sighed, “You’re not one for orders?”

“No, I’m not.” Klaus’s eyes were fixed on his plate but soon, his vision seemed to mist over as he was taken somewhere far away, “But I was when it came to this. Over time me, Elijah and Rebekah would spend the majority of our time with this Alexander and his little sister, y/n.

“Elijah was right. Y/n was just a girl caught up in something that was so much bigger than herself. She just wanted to sell flowers to feed her family, befriend all those that stepped foot in town…fall in love with the good man.” Klaus and Rebekah made brief eye contact for a moment, “She was to be left out of it.”

“But as you can probably tell by y/n being here,” Rebekah spoke up her eyes fixed on her brother, “That didn’t quite go as planned…did it Klaus?” Klaus’s upper lip sneered for a moment before he seemed to catch himself and calm down.

“No.” He said dully, “It didn’t.”

“What happened?” Y/n asked flatly. Klaus glared at her.

“Rebekah. Why don’t _you_ tell them?” Rebekah sighed long and hard.

“One night when I was with Alexander, he…staked me…with a knife dipped in the ash of the white oak. And then…”

“And then proceeded to stake the rest of your family, didn’t he Rebekah?” Klaus said. “Your entire family line almost ended because you couldn’t pick the right man.”

“Not to interrupt,” Stefan sighed, “But I thought the stake didn’t work on you.” He said to Klaus who grinned in response.

“It doesn’t. I woke up surrounded by the foul creatures and killed them one by one…until I got to Rebekah’s dear Alexander. I strung him up on the wall, his own knives pinning him through his muscle, and then I made him watch his worst nightmare before I punctured his heart with the knife he tried to kill my family with.”

“Watch his worst nightmare?” Stefan asked, but y/n already knew what he was going to say, and already felt the hot, angry tears burn behind her eyes.

“I made Alexander the vampire hunter watch as I turned his dear baby sister, the only family he had left, into the one thing he hated above all.” Klaus’s eyes remained lowered, “The one thing he was programmed to kill.”

No one needed to say the word, but everyone was thinking it. Y/n was gripping onto the edge of the table so hard that it had begun to splinter under her fingers, cracks in the wood snapping across the entire table. She quickly pulled her shaking fingers into her lap, feeling the rage splinter through her body.

“You mean to tell me.” Even her voice was shaking, “That I died…that I turned into a monster…that I can’t have _kids_. So that you could get _back_ at my brother.” The silence in the room was thick and heavily uncomfortable as both Rebekah and Klaus seemed to dip their heads in shame.

Abruptly, y/n was on her feet, her chair screeching behind her and falling onto the floor. Immediately, the guards at the side of the room shifted slightly, but with a wave of a hand from Klaus, they returned to their post.

Y/n’s chest rose quickly and with ferocity as she slowly began to remember the night that this had all happened. She saw the look in her big brother’s eyes as he watched Klaus gripping her from behind. Hurt, betrayal, anger. She felt the hot blood from Klaus’s wrist being choked down her throat. The blade that pressed against her human and vulnerable throat. The fear of not understanding what was happening. Of seeing her brother pinned to a wall by knives. Of just wanting to go _home_.

“Y/n.” Someone said but they were far away, or maybe she was.

In an instant, y/n had hurled a detailed whiskey glass against the fireplace, not even looking long enough to watch as the glass fractured and shattered across the rich carpeted floor.

“Y/n!” It was Klaus saying her name this time. Her anger peaked.

“ _No_!” Her voice cracked as she swung around to glare at him, “You don’t get to…” She could hardly breathe through the feeling of her chest swelling, “Do you know how long I’ve lived not knowing how I became like this?” She felt the tears brimming in her eyes, “How many different scenarios I’ve thought of? And now…now it turns out that turning me into a vampire was a second thought? Was fucking collateral damage in a world that I wasn’t even a part of! Are you fucking kidding me?” She felt as though she was losing control.

“Y/n-” Klaus tried again. But it was no point. He had already done enough.

“ _Shut up_.” She spat, her hands on her lower back as she paced across the fireplace, glaring at anyone and anything, “You don’t get to talk. To explain yourself…because guess what, there’s nothing to explain, is there? You slit my throat, you turn me into a vampire, you ruin my life and you don’t even think about it. Because _that’s what you do_. You fuck up and _then_ you think.”

Klaus was a still as ice. Standing with a napkin still intertwined with his fingers as he looked at her with glassy eyes. Maybe she was being cruel, or maybe she was just being honest. That’s the reality of Niklaus Mikaelson.

“You _screw_ me over and then have the _audacity_ to play games with me and my life 900 years later. Because _that’s_ just who Klaus Mikaelson is. Well, guess what?” She was right in his face now, her top lip pulled back and her eyes filled with nothing but disgust, “I’m not Caroline, I’m not even Stefan, and I’m not going to pity you, Klaus, because you fucking reap what you sow.”

Pulling back for a moment, y/n covered her face with her hands. Trying desperately to catch her breath once more. Dragging her fingers gently down her face y/n finally met Klaus’s pained eyes and found that she didn’t…she _couldn’t_ care.

“All I want… _all, I want_ …is for you to give me my memories back.” She took a step closer to his broken stature, “And then for me to never have to see you again.”

There was a pause. And for a moment, y/n couldn’t even remember that Stefan, Rebekah or even Elijah existed in the same world as her and her hatred for Klaus.

“All right,” Klaus whispered delicately, his tongue clicking over the words. “I will do anything you ask.” His voice was calm and clear, cutting through all her erratic and blazing thoughts, “Anything…to _try_ and make up for the mistake I made all those years ago.” Somehow his fingers had found their way to her face and soon he was gently brushing away angry, hot tears that y/n didn’t even know were there. And then he was looking in her eyes.

“Remember your life before you became a vampire. Remember your family and your little village. Your friends and your flowers. Remember how it felt to meet Elijah for the first time, what he looked like with his ridiculous, long hair. Remember the lifetimes worth of pain I put you through on that one night, how it felt to watch your friends and family bathed in blood. Remember the next 50 years after that. The time you spent with the Mikaelson family. The places you visited and the people you met. Remember that you fell in love and that you were loved _dearly_ by those around you. Remember the last conversation you had with each of us.”

“Remember me telling you to forget.”

The last thing she saw were the tears that trickled down his cheeks. The look in his eye as he too seemed to be taken back to the past. A complicated time full of complicated feelings. And then she felt as though she was falling back, moving through time to somewhere that felt both new and old at once.

And then. She remembered.


	12. Chapter Twelve

The sound of Caroline’s tapping foot had even begun to annoy her. She was sitting in the Salvatore mansion, perched right on the edge of a ruby red couch watching with unsettled eyes the flickering flames of a dying fire.

She felt useless. Like she was wasting precious time by just sitting there and waiting, but, Damon had given her strict warnings and a mild threat to never let the sleeping form of y/n go unsupervised.

Damon sure had a lot to say when Stefan walked through the front door with y/n’s limp form in his arms. After finding out that y/n was going through the process of remembering 50 years’ worth of time, he had made it his mission to never leave her side. Monitoring her health with a keen eye, making sure that with every blood bag he drank, he wet her lips with the red liquid first.

But then knowledge of Silas infected the group with worry and the idea of a cure, healed them. Damon was sick with confusion as he was met with a choice, leave and protect Elena, stay and be there for y/n. At the end of the day, it was Rebekah who seemed to knock some sense into the man, telling him that y/n would be in perfectly capable hands of Caroline and Tyler whilst Damon did what he did best – protecting Elena.

And that’s why Caroline found herself spending her afternoon flipping through one of Stefan’s many journals, her eyes flickering up to the completely motionless form of y/n on the sofa opposite her.

At that moment, she had a certain hybrid-original trapped in the Gilbert’s living room with Tyler being the one to overlook him, and, sitting still for so long had begun to make her feel sick.

“Come on,” She sighed heavily under her breath, now not even able to concentrate on Stefan’s innermost personal fears, “Come _on_ y/n.” She whispered again, letting her lashes flutter closed and feeling her heart truly and utterly be put into the words as she said them. When she peeked again through one eye, y/n was still lying there, her hair fanning out over a ruby satin cushion.

“Fine.” Caroline huffed before carelessly letting the journal flutter to the floor before standing and twisting around. And as soon as she turned her back, she heard a desperate gasp for air.

“Y/n!” Caroline squeaked flicking around and watching as y/n seemed to almost splutter for breath. But then, as abruptly as the gasping had started, she stopped.

She stopped moving, she stopped making a sound. She glanced around her with large, wary eyes. Nothing but confusion laced within her features.

“Y/n, oh thank God.” Caroline began, sitting right back down on the edge of the sofa, “I began thinking yesterday that there was a possibility that you might never wake up but then Tyler insisted that you would have to wake up sometime soon.” Y/n pushed her fingertips onto her forehead as she slowly twisted into a hunched seating position, “Oh God, you’ve missed so much! Right now, Damon, Stefan, Elena, Bonnie, Jeremy and…Rebekah, is it? They’re all on this island looking for this old witch names Silas – long story.” Y/n tested her balance on her feet for a moment before gently pushing herself up, “But with Silas, there is supposedly a cure. Y/n can you hear me? A _cure_ for _vampirism_.” Y/n shuffled her feet over to the whiskey table, pushing her weight onto the polished wood as she began to pour herself a drink. “Obviously Stefan and Damon want it for Elena but there’s drama going on right now because no one knows if Elena will still love Damon after… _y/n_?”

Caroline’s head snapped over to her direction when the noise of shattering glass and a gargled scream filled the room. Rushing over, she took in the image of y/n crumpled on the floor, desperately gasping for breath as sobs wracked her body, the shattered remains of at least 3 whiskey decanters around her, the golden liquid pooling across the russet floor, dampening her clothes.

“Oh my...” Caroline gulped before sinking to her knees and gathering the knot of limbs and lungs that was y/n. Tears streamed down y/n’s face and broken breaths shattered their way into her lungs.

“Oh, God!” Y/n’s voice splintered as she gripped onto Caroline’s supporting arm with enough force to break it, “I’m sorry.” She gasped as her hysterical gasping somehow seemed to simmer into echoing sobs, calling out into the empty oversized home, “I’m _so sorry_.”

All Caroline could do was hold y/n close to her chest and gently rock her back and forth, whispering whatever comforting messages came to her mind.

And wonder, what could have possibly made her feel like this.

* * *

Caroline was standing in the early morning sunlight, squinting through it as she stared at the phone in her hands, her fingers trembling over the buttons. Both her clothes and body had begun to feel as though they needed a deep cleanse after the night she had just spent hovering over y/n.

After y/n had calmed down, she had fumbled her way into the bathroom, stripping down immediately whilst Caroline began to run her a bath. Caroline did and said what she thought y/n needed, never mentioning y/n’s past and biting her tongue when any questions sprung forward.

She had then spent the entire night sitting in the living room, texting Tyler about the update. She was trying to work on the puzzle of the dead language and what the symbols meant on the sword, but every so often she would hear a gut-wrenching scream tear through the building.

Running up the stairs she would hold onto the poor girl until the sobs subsided enough for her to breathe normally again, and then she would slump back into a numb like state. No emotion found in her eyes, no words laced on her tongue.

Fragile was never a word Caroline had ever dreamt of calling y/n, but that’s all she could think every time she ran up the stairs. Every time she bit back her own tears as y/n screamed and screamed. Every time she asked her if she was okay and she would only respond with a numb, curt nod.

And it felt wrong that she of all people had ended up being the one there for her. That was why she was contemplating on making this call, and that’s why she was hoping that she really wasn’t going to regret it.

“Hello?” Caroline murmured through the phone, swiftly turning on the TV so y/n wouldn’t be able to hear her conversation.

“Caroline.” Elijah’s deep and reverberating voice echoed from the other line, “Is something the matter?”

“What…no.” Caroline immediately felt guilt puncture her gut. Being a vampire meant she felt even the smallest of emotions like a tidal wave, drowning her in her own worry, doubt and fear. And maybe Caroline did feel a little guilty for not immediately noticing or even thinking that there might be something off with y/n when she first woke up.

“Then why are you calling me?” He didn’t sound annoyed, just mildly interested, “You know that I did only give you my number for emergencies…right?”

“Yes, well, the thing is…I didn’t really want to call Damon.” Caroline’s fingers were causing the phone to shake against her ear, remembering feeling the vibrations of y/n’s gutted screams tearing through her body.

“Go on.” Elijah continued after a moment, concerned. Caroline took a deep shaky breath.

“Y/n woke up.” She finally said, wondering whether or not Elijah knew what she was even talking about. There was a long heavy pause at the other end.

“I see.” He murmured after a moment. And then Caroline could hear some shuffling going on at his end. Using her heightened sense of hearing, she picked up traces of cups clinking together followed by the shutting of the door and the unstable sigh of a man. “How is she, Caroline?” Caroline could already feel tears pricking behind her eyes and she brushed over the still slightly damp patch on her jeans, the faint smell of whiskey still lingering in the air.

“She’s not good Elijah.” Caroline gasped out after a moment, a single tear seeping down her ivory cheek, “She, um.” Covering her eyes with her hand and taking a deep breath, Caroline tried to calm her nerves. “She woke up and at first she was just confused and so she got a drink of whiskey but then…I don’t even know, she was on the floor and the glass was everywhere and so was the alcohol and she was just…oh God.” The raw screamed echoed around her head once more.

Caroline paused to catch her breath, sinking onto the couch and pressing the phone even closer into her ear. Staying silent for a moment, she focused on the other end and what she could hear. Elijah’s breathing had slowed down tremendously, almost like he was holding his breath, then she heard the quick snap of shoes on wood and the faint muttering of a woman’s voice. A familiar voice. And then, a car door slamming shut.

“I’m on my way.”

* * *

Y/n was standing in the forgotten garden behind the Salvatore mansion. The wiry vines and emerald leaves had been neglected and therefore had grown out of their original neat little patches. There was a path here once, one that would wind all the way down into the forest and to the river, but thick shrubbery had concealed it from sight.

She was still struggling to control the pain. But being outside helped. Being alone helped.

The heartache, the sadness, the agonizing guilt. All of it sat like a small bag of grains in her chest. The weight pulling her down, making her limbs heavy and her bones weak.

But she couldn’t think of it.

Because when she thought about it, that’s when the tears came. The gut-wrenching, agonizing guilt wracking her body in the form of sobs and screams. The arms of poor Caroline who always felt miles away.

Or maybe she was the one that felt miles away.

Walking along slowly, y/n focused on the rapidly growing greenery. She had somehow managed to get dressed today, wearing a halter neck black bra underneath a long-sleeved black top with black jeans and black shoes, her hair falling fresh and clean around her face.

“Focus.”

She whispered to herself again. She wasn’t quite sure on what, but then she stumbled across a pale snowdrop peaking through the emerald sea, and she had an idea.

* * *

“Hey, where are you going?” Caroline’s sweet voice made her fingers hesitate on the silver door handle. Turning around she tried her hardest to keep her voice calm and steady.

“I need to see him.”

* * *

“Y/n?”

Klaus was shocked, “What are you doing here?” He was sitting limply on the floor but immediately snapped to his feet when he saw her. It felt weird looking at him now, different…but good.

“Well, I just woke up from…” She didn’t know quite how to phrase what she had just been through, but Klaus understood, “Whatever. And then I find out that you are trapped in the Gilbert’s family home, all my friends are off trying to find a cure for vampirism and, well, I wanted to come over and…” She couldn’t finish her sentence.

“Talk? Ask questions? Really milk whatever you can get out of me whilst I’m trapped here like an animal?” Clearly being stuck within the same for walls for less than 24 hours had somehow managed to get to big, brave Niklaus.

“To apologise…actually.” Silence settled quickly as Klaus’s eyes met hers, now it was him who wanted to ask all the questions. But before he could say anything, y/n was already talking. “I can’t apologise for the way I…acted, the last time I saw you. Because to be honest I think it was perfectly reasonable of me, however…” Her brows furrowed tightly as another wave of thick and foggy guilt crashed through her body, “For everything I did in those 50 years…everything I put you and your family through, I can’t apologise enough.”

A pained expression of his own seemed to flicker its way across his face as he went to move closer to her before remembering the barrier that was keeping him put.

“Y/n, love.” He mumbled, aching to hug her. Because through the pain he put her through and then her 50 years of agonising with herself, through her falling in love with his brother and him falling in love with her. After all that it would just feel wrong not to think of her as family, “Everything you did…it’s on me y/n. All of it.” Y/n already knew that the tears would come before she even felt them.

“Klaus-” She hummed.

“No, y/n.” He spoke with finality, moving right up to the barrier of the room. “ _I_ turned you into a vampire, _I_ took your life with little thought and then you suffered…for 50 years with yourself…with what _I_ made you become.” He was shaking his head slightly as he spoke, “It’s on me. It will always be one me and I simply can’t let you feel like you’re in any way responsible for that.”

“Klaus.” She said again, taking a step towards the barrier herself. “I understand. Believe me, I do. But…” She shifted her weight uncomfortably as she glanced around the room. She had never felt this vulnerable before, but there was something weirdly cleansing about it. Like she was going through a confession, “At the end of the day it was me…you know. I was the one that killed…” The words literally could not be choked out of her throat, she felt as though she was going to be sick on them. “I killed…” She tried again, but she felt a bubble of a sob shake her muscles.

“Stop.” Klaus said after a moment, “Just don’t…don't do that to yourself y/n.” He was as close as he could be to her, “Don’t make yourself feel any worse than you already do.”

“Why not?” Her voice turned monotone, “I mean you of all people should know what guilt feels like.” Klaus looked away, nothing about this was going to be easy. “I want to talk about it.” She surprised him by saying. He looked at her once more, “I want to know…” Her breath dissolved into a shaky gasp.

“Okay.” He cut in by saying. “Okay…but I think neither of us needs to be sober to have that conversation.”

And y/n surprised herself by allowing a soft, sad smile to crinkle at her lips.

* * *

“Have you ever thought about taking the cure?” Y/n hummed, swigging from their second whiskey bottled before sliding it across the floor onto Klaus’s side of the barrier. They were currently sitting at opposite ends of the barrier, leaning up against the walls of the frame that bordered the living room from the dining room.

“Of course not,” Klaus said slightly incredulously, taking a swig and then pushing the bottle back over. “Being human would take so much away from me, I mean there are literally so many _more_ reasons why I _wouldn’t_ take the cure than would.”

Y/n smiled softly at Klaus’s mini-rant before reaching over and picking a new song on the stereo. Lana Del Rey’s echoing voice hummed softly into the background. It was a song that y/n had never heard before, but the lyrics were swimming around her head immediately.

“Would you ever take the cure?” Klaus murmured, watching with careful eyes as y/n took a long, thirstful drink from the bottle. Putting the bottle down with little care and wiping her mouth with the back of her black sleeve y/n gently nodded. “You would?” Klaus asked, slightly incredulously.

“Maybe…if I were under different conditions…if it was a different time.” Y/n had only known about the cure for less than 24 hours, but she had always known, for 900 years, one reason to become human again.

“But why?” Klaus stretched out his legs, “So you can grow old and die a nobody?” Y/n faintly smiled. Through her drunk vision, the candles that dotted along the fireplace had begun to look like twinkling stars piercing through a wishy-washy brown background.

“No.” Y/n hummed distantly, “So I could have kids.” This seemed to smother Klaus’s cheerful playfulness for a brief, fleeting moment. “But to have kids…you need two people.” Y/n continued. Klaus thought for a moment.

“And there’s no one…that you would want to have kids with?” Klaus was dipping a toe in the water with that question, watching with careful eyes for her reaction.

“I…” Y/n trailed off, not meeting his gaze. A silence settled between the two as they both thought of the same man.

“You should give him a chance, y/n,” Klaus’s voice was oddly soft, and somehow, the mixture of the soft vocals and his warm British accent talking about Elijah made her want to cry. Or maybe that was just the alcohol.

“Why?” Y/n whispered, her eyes flickering over Klaus’s warm face watching as he avoided her gaze.

“Because all I’ve ever wanted is a love as pure and whole as the one you did and still do have with him.” He was looking towards the fire, but it was so evident that he was somewhere far, far away. “And,” Klaus’s eyes turned to glass in the firelight, “I’m a bad guy, y/n…I take what I want…but I could never bring myself to take you.”

Klaus’s eyes swam towards her teary ones.

“You loved me.” She whispered after a moment, more of a question than anything. Klaus swallowed.

“Yes.” He coughed, “I was in love with you.” The soft strum of a guitar swam around them, “But…” He continued, “Over time…I moved on from being _in_ love with you to just…loving you.

“You were a part of my family, and, even though you were dealing with your own demons, and it was and would always have been better to leave you behind. To clear your memory…to give you a fresh start. I never… _never_ wanted to let you go.

“Neither did Elijah.” Y/n’s heart jumped in her chest, “But when you told us that you just wanted to stop, to stop feeling, to stop living. We were faced with three options.” Y/n gently shut her eyes as Klaus’s words swam around her head, “Kill you…let you turn your humanity off…or make you forget.

“Compel you not to remember how you became a vampire, how you watched your family die before your eyes, those who you killed as a way of dealing with your guilt and the pain that came from those murders.

“You can tell that’s the option we chose. But…it came at a price. To make you forget all that, you’d have to forget us. Elijah, Rebekah…me. When I told Elijah my plan, God…you should have seen the look in his eye.” Klaus winced as the image of Elijah throwing a table across the room came to mind, the angry tears that spilt down his cheeks as he cursed loudly. “But…even he couldn’t deny that it was the best option.” Y/n wiped at her cheeks quickly, looking at Klaus once more.

“So, you just took away my memories, just like that?”

“Just like that.” Klaus responded without even thinking, “I sat down on your bed, it was midnight, and I told you that we would be leaving the next day and that you were going to stay here and start a new life. I told you to forget everything about the Mikaelson family, I told you to forget about your family, your human life. I told you to remember your hometown, that you were a vampire and the year 1111. The year you turned into a vampire.

“And then I took you to a home in northern England, I had a friend there that could look out for you. And then…I left you sleeping in a bed you had never slept in before. I met Elijah halfway back to London, where we were staying, he had realised we were both gone and had begun tracking us. That’s where I told him what I had done.”

“He didn’t know?” Y/n couldn’t help but ask.

“No…I didn’t…” Klaus’s brows furrowed slightly, “I didn’t want him to know when his last night with you was going to be. I know my brother better than anyone, y/n, and I know that he would have wanted to look back at his last night with you as just another night with the love of his life…because the nights that came with day to day life…were always the most important ones.

“If I had told him then he would have distanced himself, he wouldn’t have been able to look at you without seeing pain all that night…he deserved to be happy in his final moments with you…we all did.”

“And yet you,” Y/n sighed heavily, “You were the one that had to make me forget?” One of the few questions she had left was sitting on her tongue, “How did it all come down to you?”

“Like I said.” Klaus responded without thinking, “I loved you. I would always put what was best for you before what I wanted from you…especially considering how you were placed into this world of…vampirism.”

“Klaus…” Y/n had somehow pushed her trembling fingers into the frame behind her and stumbled to her feet. Moving numbly over to his crumpled form, she reached out with flourishing fingers to stroke his cheek. The bristles of his stubble prickling her fingertips, “Klaus you have to know, you _must_ know…that I _forgive you_.”  Klaus’s eyes swam around hers, the candles flickering brightly in her glassy reflection.

“You…may, have had wrong intentions when you gave me this life. But I don’t think there are words to tell you just how thankful I am for it.” The touch, the whispering, none of it was romantic. Their relationship was somewhere past that, somewhere that cut deeper than the double-bladed knife of romance, “I am so thankful that I have been gifted so many years of living…so much time to meet new people and make new friends.” Their bond was like family. “You gave my life purpose, Klaus, and I will always be thankful for that.”

Klaus stared hesitantly at her for a full minute. So many questions and protests running through his mind at that moment. But when push came to shove, he had nothing to say. So he simply reached his hand up and intertwined his fingers with hers from where they rested on his cheek before realisation dawned on him.

“I can feel you.” His voice was full of breath as he whispered, “The barrier’s down.” He said with more firmness. Y/n sucked in a breath before a soft smile sat on her lips. It was okay. The barrier didn’t matter anymore.

“You’re free to go.” She mumbled through her grin as she pulled back and turned around to turn off the stereo and blow out the candles. Tentatively, Klaus stood behind her watching her move for a fleeting second before moving towards the door. But he found something holding him back before he could walk out of the house.

“We should meet again,” Klaus spoke into the silence, keeping his eyes focused firmly on his fingertips on the door handle. “To talk.” He continued, still not looking anywhere else, “I mean…there is a lot we should catch up on, 900 years’ worth and…personally, I think we could start with how you even came to know those masochistic Salvatore brothers in the first place.” Y/n smiled genuinely at him.

“Yes…and how you managed to stick a knife in every one of your family’s hearts and keep them locked away boxes, some for the better part of those 900 years.” Y/n folded her arms across her chest and cheekily grinned back.

“Tomorrow…then?” Klaus murmured after a moment, finding himself once more staring into her eyes.

“Tomorrow.” She whispered back. They shared a mutual nod before Klaus swung the door open and disappeared in a flash to God knows where.

Sighing heavily, y/n got back to work. She slowly made her way around the house, cleaning up the mess Tyler, Caroline, Kol and Klaus seemed to have made together. Placing books back on their shelves and standing picture frames back up.

She busied herself with the house, keeping her mind focused on the different types of bleach under the sink and the surprisingly sweet words that Klaus had whispered to her that night. Taking one last swig from the whiskey bottle y/n relished in the feeling of the rich alcohol slipping down her throat and spreading a warmth across her chest. And then she was out the door. Stepping out into the freezing air and taking pleasure in how the icy breeze felt like shards of glass pushing into her lungs.

But that happiness soon faded. With every step towards the Salvatore mansion, y/n felt herself leave the safe bubble that Klaus had made for her back in the Gilbert home. She moving closer and closer to the long night of gut-clenching screams and soul-crushing guilt.

Soon the cool night’s air wasn’t anywhere close to pleasant, in fact, it had begun to feel like the greying skin of all those the dead bodies piled up to the warehouse’s ceiling. One moment she was looking at the park path in front of her, coated in a blue moonlight, and the next, it was 1146 and the fire of a burning building was warming her skin.

Clutching at her chest, y/n slowly felt her knees give out underneath her as she stumbled towards the floor. Collapsing, y/n tried her best to focus on the pain of the dry gravel cutting into her skin but all she could feel was the pain of falling in love with the man who helped kill her family.

Gasping, she felt the sobs bubble up in her throat as images flashed in front of her eyes. Dead bodies. Milky eyes. Greying skin.

Blood. God. So much blood.

The distorted image of herself reflected back towards her. Her eyes veiny as she was drenched from head to toe in blood.

Not her blood. Not her blood.

Screaming. Who was screaming?

The echoing screams of victim after victim after victim.

“Y/n?” The voice cut through the lung-ripping cries and she was brought right back to the park path where she realised that it was her who was screaming.

Gasping for breath, y/n looked around her with wary eyes. She was on the floor, curled into a ball and had been gripping onto her neck and chest with enough force to cut into it with her fingernails and scrape away her flesh until she cut to the bone. Looking up, y/n took in the image of the watery man standing before her.

“Damon?” She gasped, feeling his strong arms wrap around her waist before she saw them.

“Good God…y/n can you hear me y/n?” He was clutching her cheek in one of his hands, supporting her weak neck with his leather clan arm.

But all she could see was the blues of his piercing eyes, and all she could feel was another wave of guilt crash through her body, rippling through her bones as she once more was reminded of what she used to be.

“Oh my God y/n…” Damon was cursing under his breath as he traced his fingers across her bloodied neck, “What have you done?”

What had she done? All those people. _All those people_. She wanted to look away from Damon’s questioning eyes, wanted to stop feeling the guilt slam into her over and over again. But she knew, she knew that if she looked away she would see their faces again and she couldn’t…she couldn’t…The word echoed around her head again and again and again, how could she have not known? How could she have lived her life and not known? The word was being screamed in her ear now and suddenly, it wasn’t just Damon’s curious yet broken gaze that was haunting her. It was Rebekah, her best friend, Klaus, her family, Elijah…poor Elijah. He had fallen in love with a monster. It whispered around her and suddenly it was inescapable. The reality of what she was, was drowning her as the word echoed her into a heavy and unforgiving darkness.

_Ripper._


End file.
